Please do not destroy or throw away this publication. If you have no further use 
for it, write to the Geological Survey at Washington and ask for a frank to return it 


GB 1025 
. A6 R6 
Copy 1 


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Hubert Work, Secretary 



United States Geological Survey 

George Otis Smith, Director 


Water-Supply Paper 498 


THE LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 

A GEOGRAPHIC, GEOLOGIC, ANI) HYDROLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE 
WITH A GLIDE TO DESERT WATERING PLACES 


BY 


CLYDE P. ROSS 





WASHINGTON 

government printing office 

1923 



















Class 10 2i 5 

Book • f\ (o ~ R. 6> 










* 








t 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Hubert Work, Secretary 


United States Geological Survey 

I 

George Otis Smith, Director 


Water-Supply Paper 498 


THE LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 

A GEOGRAPHIC, GEOLOGIC, AND HYDROLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE 
WITH A GUIDE TO DESERT WATERING PLACES 


BY 

CLYDE P. ROSS 

• r 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1923 





(*Bl025 




ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

50 CENTS PER COPY 

PURCHASER AGREES NOT TO RESELL OR DISTRIBUTE THIS 
COPY FOR PROFIT—PUB. RES. 57, APPROVED MAY 11, 1922 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

RECEIVED 

FEB I 3 1924 


DOCUMENTS DIVISION 


« 








CONTENTS. 


i 

no 

ir- 

a 

X' 

>: 

Of 


Page. 

Preface, by 0. E. Meinzer_ xr 

Introduction_ ] 

Location and extent of the region_ j 

Scope of the report_1_ ] 

Plan_ 1 

General chapters_ 1 

Route descriptions and logs_ 2 

Chapter on watering places_ 3 

Maps_ 3 

Acknowledgments_ 4 

General features of the region_ 4 

Climate_ 4 

History_ 7 

Industrial development_ 12 

Mining_ 12 

Agriculture_ 13 

Stock raising- 15 

Flora_ 15 

Fauna_ 16 

Topography- 17 

Geology- 19 

Rock formations_ 20 

Basal complex_ 20 

Tertiary lavas_ :l- 21 

Tertiary sedimentary formations!_ 23 

Quaternary sedimentary formations- 24 

Quaternary basalt----1- 27 

Structure- 27 

Geologic history- 28 

Early pre-Cambrian time_ 28 

Late pre-Cambrian time_ 28 

Paleozoic and Mesozoic time- 28 

Tertiary time- 30 

Quaternary time- 31 

Ground water- 33 

Ground water in rock- 33 

Ground water in valley till- 33 

Types of surface water supplies, by Kirk Bryan- 35 

Streams as watering places- 35 

Intermittent and interrupted streams- 35 

Ephemeral streams- 38 

Centennial Wash- 39 

Lakes and ponds_ 41 

Charcos_ 42 


nr 















































IV 


CONTENTS. 


Types of surface water supplies—Continued. Page. 

Rock tanks_ 42 

Definition_ 42 

Rock tanks away from stream channels- 42 

Rock tanks in stream channels_ 43 

Physiographic relations of rock tanks_ 45 

Falls due to differing erosive resistance of rock_ 45 

Falls due to changes in stream grade_ 45 

Falls due to renewed uplift___ 46 

Sand tanks_ 47 

Direct utilization of rain water_ 47 

Rain water shed from roofs_ 47 

Water catches_ 48 

Sanitary considerations_ 49 

Reservoirs_ 50 

Purposes _ 50 

Reservoirs in the mountains and foothills_ 52 

Reservoirs in the plains and valleys_ 53 

Construction of reservoirs_ 55 

Protection of the embankment_ 56 

Diversion dams and protection of spillway channels_ 57 

Debris-filled reservoirs and artificial springs_ 59 

Advantages_ 59 

Methods of construction_ 59 

Gila River- 61 

General features_ 62 

Tributaries_ 63 

Gila River in early days_ 64 

Gila River valley below Salt River_ 67 

Buckeye Valley- 67 

Arlington Valley_ 69 

Vicinity of Arlington Mesa_ 70 

Gillespie dam site_ 70 

Old course of Gila River_ 71 

Vicinity of Enterprise ranch_ 72 

Gila Bend_ 73 

Point of Rocks_ 74 

Palomas to Yuma_ 75 

Fossils - 75 

Summary_ 76 

Interpretation of well logs_ 76 

Wells of Southern Pacific Co_ 77 

Wells in Arlington Valley_ 84 

Wells in Buckeye Valley_ 85 

Southwest Cotton Co.’s wells_ 85 

Wells in Mesa_ 88 

Physiographic history of Gila River_ 88 

Tertiary events_ 88 

Quaternary events_ 89 

First period of erosion_ 89 

First period of alluviation_ 89 




















































CONTENTS. 


V 

Gila River—Continued. 

Physiographic history of Gila River—Continued. Page. 

Quaternary events—Continued. 

Clay- 90 

Second period of erosion_ 92 

Second period of alluviation_ 92 

Basalt_ 93 

Third period of erosion._ 2 _ 93 

Deposition of the flood plain_ 93 

Channel in the flood plain_ 94 

Present deposition_ 94 

History of irrigation along Gila River west of Gila River Reservation, 

by C. R. Olberg_„_ 95 

Previous irrigation_ 97 

Present irrigation_ 101 

Buckeye canal_ 101 

Corbett canal_ 102 

Arlington canal_ 102 

Joshlin ditch_ 103 

James Bent canal_ 103 

Enterprise canal_I_ 103 

Gillespie dam_ 104 

Papago canal_ 105 

Antelope Valley canal_ 105 

Amount of water available for irrigation_ 106 

Irrigation with ground water in Colorado River Indian Reservation, by 

A. L. Harris_ 108 

General features of the area_._ 108 

Field work_ 109 

Water-bearing deposits and source of water_ 111 

Construction of test wells_ 112 

Water for the mesa ground_ 112 

Summary of conclusions_ 113 

Results of tests_ 115 

Well logs and notes_ 115 

Drive-point tests_ 117 

Travel in the region- 118 

Types of roads- 118 

Road difficulties and suggestions for surmounting them_ 119 

Routes of travel_ 123 

General outline_ 123 

Plan of logs and descriptions_ 125 

Road logs_ 126 

Phoenix-Yuma route_ 126 

Phoenix to Yuma by main road_ 126 

Phoenix to Yuma by old road across Gila Bend Mountains— 129 

Yuma to Phoenix by main road_ 130 

Yuma to Phoenix by old road across Gila Bend Mountains— 132 

Route between Phoenix and Parker by way of Buckeye and 

Salome or Wenden--- 133 

Phoenix to Salome by way of Buckeye and Palo Verde- 133 

Tolladays Well te Wenden_ 134 












































VI 


CONTENTS. 


Routes of travel—Continued. 

Road logs—Continued. 

Route between Phoenix and Parker by way of Buckeye and 

Salome or Wenden—Continued. Page. 

Salome to Parker_ 134 

Wenden to Parker by way of Butler Well- 135 

Parker to Salome_ 136 

Parker to Wenden___ 137 

Wenden to Tolladays Well_ 138 

Salome to Phoenix by way of Palo Verde and Buckeye- 138 

Route between Phoenix and Wenden or Salome by way of Wick- 

enburg_ 139 

Phoenix to Wickenburg_ 139 

Wickenburg to Wenden and Salome_ 140 

Salome and Wenden to Wickenburg_ 141 

Wickenburg to Phoenix_ 141 

Bouse-Swansea route_ 142 

Vicksburg-Quartzsite route_ 142 

Vicksburg to Quartzsite_ 142 

Quartzsite to Vicksburg_ 143 

Bouse-Quartzsite route_ 143 

Bouse to Quartzsite_ 143 

Quartzsite to Bouse_ 144 

Quartzsite-Ehrenberg route_ 144 

Quartzsite to Ehrenberg_ 144 

Ehrenberg to Quartzsite_ 145 

Ehrenberg-Parker route_ 145 

Quartzsite-Dome route_ 146 

Quartzsite to Dome by main road_ 146 

Quartzsite to Dome by old road across La Posa Plain_ 147 

Dome to Quartzsite by main road_ 148 

Dome to Quartzsite by old road across La Posa Plain_ 150 

Harquahala route_ 150 

Salome to Palomas by way of Harquahala_ 150 

Palomas to Salome by way of Harquahala_ 151 

Routes to Alamo Spring_ 151 

Detailed descriptions_ 152 

Phoenix to Yuma_ 152 

Phoenix___ 152 

Salt River project_ 152 

Phoenix to Coldwater_ 153 

Coldwater to Buckeye_ 154 

Buckeye to Gila Bend_ 155 

Buckeye to the Gila Bend Mountains_ 155 

New road across the Gila Bend Mountains_ 156 

Old road across the Gila Bend Mountains_ 157 

Industries in the valley of Gila River along old road_ 159 

Agua Caliente to Palomas_ 160 

Palomas to Norton_ 160 

Norton to Antelope Bridge_ 162 

\ 

Antelope Bridge to Wellton_ 163 

Wellton to Dome_ 163 

Dome to Yuma_ 163 


















































CONTENTS. 


VII 


Routes of travel—Continued. 

Detailed descriptions—Continued. Page. 

Phoenix to Parker_ 165 

Hassayampa River to Palo Verde mine_ 165 

Hassayampa Plain_ 166 

Vulture Mountains_ 167 

Saddle Mountain_ 168 

Palo Verde Hills_ 168 

Palo Verde mine to Salome and Wen den_ 169 

Harquahala Plain_ 170 

Eagletail Mountains_ 170 

Bighorn Mountains_ 171 

Little Harquahala Mountains_ 171 

Salome to Vicksburg_ 171 

Vicksburg to Bouse_ 172 

Bouse to Parker_ 173 

Harquahala Mountains_ 175 

Wenden to Butler Well_ 176 

Butler Well to Osborne Well_ 178 

Buckskin Mountains_ 178 

Osborne Well to Parker_ 180 

Bouse to Swansea_ 180 

Vicksburg to Quartzsite_ ISO 

Bouse to Quartzsite_ 183 

Quartzsite to Ehrenberg_ 184 

Quartzsite to Dome_ 186 

Roads across La Posa Plain_ 186 

S. H. Mountains-_ 187 

Castle Dome Mountains_ 187 

Chocolate Mountains_ 189 

Castle Dome to Dome_ 189 

# Palomas to Salome_ 190 

Palomas to Freighter Well_ 190 

Freighter Well to Harquahala_ 191 

Harquahala mine_ 193 

Harquahala to Salome_ 193 

Watering places_ 194 

Scope of descriptions_ 194 

Quality of water_ 194 

Detailed descriptions_ 197 

Recent changes in roads_ 229 

Index_ 231 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Pagu. 

Plate I. Map of the arid region of the United States showing areas 
covered by this report and by other water-supply papers of 

the United States Geological Survey- xii 

II. Relief map of the western part of the lower Gila region, 

showing desert watering places-In pocket. 

III. Relief map of the central part of the lower Gila region, show¬ 
ing desert watering places- In pocket. 














































VIII 


CONTENTS 


t 


Pag*. 

Plate IV. Relief map of the eastern part of the lower Gila region, show¬ 
ing desert watering places--. In pocket. 

V. Desert vegetation in Buckeye Valley_ 16 

VI. Reconnaissance geologic map of the lower Gila region- 20 

VII. A, Head of cliarco near La Quituni, east of Ajo Mountains; 

B, Tinajas Atlas from the terraces at the foot of the moun¬ 
tains _ 50 

VIII. A, The upland valley at Tinajas Altas; B, House in “ Old Ajo,” 

Pima County, showing spacious roof equipped with gutters 
to catch rain water and metal tank into which the gutters 

drain _ 50 

IX. A, Water catch near Fortuna mine, Yuma County; B, Artesa 

Pond, Pima County---- 50 

X. A, Represo east of Dobbs Butte, Pima County; B, Represo at 

Pisinemo, Pima County- 51 

XI. Diagrammatic cross sections at various points on lower Gila 

River_•-- 68 

XII. Graphic logs of deep wells along lower portions of Gila and 
Salt rivers plotted in their relative positions with respect to 
approximate profiles of these streams_ 68 

XIII. Gillespie dam_ 104 

XIV. A, A typical good plains road in the big wash in the plain 

west of Woolsey Tank, Gila Bend Mountains; B, Road across 

Hassayampa Plain_ 105 

XV. A, View looking north from the concrete bridge over Agua Fria 
River at Coldwater; B, A field of long-staple cotton on the 

Buckeye road near Cashion_ 168 

XVI. A, Plain in Gila Bend Mountains near Fourth of July Butte; 

B, Yellow Medicine Well, Gila Bend Mountains, from the 

west___ 168 

XVII. A, Woolsey Peak from Woolsey Tank; B, Woolsey Tank_ J68 

XVIII. A, Saddle Mountain; B, Pockets in calcareous conglomerate of 

Saddle Mountain_ 168 

XIX. A, Courthouse Rock and Eagletail Mountains; B, Hills of 

chloritic schist at south end of Bighorn Mountains near 
Palo Verde mine_ 168 

XX. A, Colorado River at Parker; B, Bush's Ferry across Colorado 

River at Parker_ 169 

XXI. A y Finely bedded limestone with overlying basalt at border of 
Buckskin Mountains, about 12 miles east of Parker; B, 

Scarp on north side of Black Butte, Cactus Plain_ 184 

XXII. Ay Desert Well, about 5 miles from Vicksburg, from the east; 

By Ehrenberg Ferry, from Arizona bank of Colorado River; 

Gy Gonzales Wells, Dome Rock Mountains_ 184 

XXIII. A, Horse Tanks, Castle Dome Mountains; B, Gap between 
Clanton Hills and Gila Bend Mountains, through which Har- 

quahala road passes_ 185 

Figure 1. Map of the lower Gila region showing principal roads and 

watering places and areas covered by detailed maps_ xm 

2. Graph showing distribution of rainfall at Phoenix, Parker, 

and Yuma, 1910-1918_ 5 

3. Diagram showing five types of depressions in stream beds_ 43 
























CONTENTS. 


IX 


Pag*. 

Figure 4. Diagram showing production of falls and tanks by erosion of 

mountain pediment on a new grade_ 46 

5. Diagram showing production of falls and tanks by renewal of 

uplift of eroded fault block mountains_•_ 46 

6. Reinforced-concrete cistern for water catch_ 49 

7. Diagrammatic map showing location of represo at one side of 

main flood water channel_ 54 

8. Idealized map showing use of run-off from road ruts and re¬ 

lation of reservoirs to slopes_ 56 

9. Profile through typical Papago represo_ 56 

10. Cross section of earth dam_ 57 

11. Diagram showing the use of brush and logs for diversion dams 

and spillways_ 58 

12. Diagram showing construction of a water drop to prevent ero¬ 

sion in a channel_:_ 59 

13. Diagram showing rock-fill dam for an artificial reservoir_ 61 

14. Cross section of Gila River at Gila Bend, showing test holes— 73 

15. Sketch map of lower Gila River, showing past and present 

irrigated areas of projects utilizing river water_ 96 

16. Sketch map of Colorado River Indian Reservation, showing 

location of test wells-_- 110 


i 


% 

















PREFACE. 


By O. E. Meinzer. 


The arid region of the United States, as outlined on Plate I, 
covers about 500,000 square miles, or one-sixth of the entire coun¬ 
try. The vast region includes some large irrigation districts and 
well-watered mountains, but most of it is so arid that it can not 
safely be traversed by anyone who does not have adequate informa¬ 
tion regarding the location of watering places. The desert is not 
vanishing, although here and there relatively small tracts of it 
have been reclaimed by irrigation, and the aggregate number of 
watering places has been slowly increasing. It has, however, be¬ 
come much more accessible than formerly—first through the build¬ 
ing of railroads and recently through the use of automobiles. 

In 1917 the sum of $10,000 was appropriated by Congress for a 
survey of desert watering places, which had been authorized in an 
act approved August 21, 1916, as follows: 

Be is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress asse7iibled, That the Secretary of Interior he, 
and he is hereby, authorized and empowered, in his discretion, in so far 
as the authorization made herein will permit, to discover, develop, protect, 
and render more accessible for the benefit of the general public springs, 
streams, and water holes on arid public lands of the United States; 
and in connection therewith to erect and maintain suitable and durable monu¬ 
ments and signboards at proper places and intervals along and near the 
accustomed lines of travel and over the general area of said desert lands, con¬ 
taining information and directions as to the location and nature of said 
springs, streams, and water holes, to the end that the same may be more 
readily traced and found by persons in search or need thereof; also to pro¬ 
vide convenient and ready means, apparatus, and appliances by which water 
may be brought to the earth’s surface at said water holes for the use of 
such persons; also to prepare and distribute suitable maps, reports, and 
general information relating to said springs, streams, and water holes and their 
specific location with reference to lines of travel. 

The work thus authorized was assigned to the United States 
Geological Survey. To the small appropriation made for this pur¬ 
pose was added a part of the Geological Survey’s regular allotment 
for ground-water investigations in the United States, and the scope 
of the survey was enlarged so as to include a reconnaissance of the 
ground-water conditions in the area covered. 


XI 




XII 


PREFACE. 


The area selected for survey lies in southeastern California and 
southwestern Arizona (see PI. I) and occupies about 60,000 square 
miles, or somewhat more than one-tenth of the entire arid region. 
It is larger than the State of Illinois and nearly as large as New 
England. This is, on the whole, the driest and hottest area in the 
United States, and until the watering-place survey was made it was 
also one of the least explored and most poorly mapped. In a large 
part of the area the average annual rainfall is less than 5 inches. 
This slight rainfall and the high temperature together produce a 
high degree of aridity. The high temperature adds greatly to the 
danger of perishing by thirst. 

The area was divided into four parts, each of which was covered 
by a geologist who was assisted by a nontechnical helper and was 
provided with a Ford automobile, a light camping outfit, a plane 
table, and other equipment. The four parts of the area are for con¬ 
venience called the Salton Sea region, the Mohave Desert region, 
the lower Gila region, and the Papago country. (See Pl. I.) 

Maps were prepared of the entire area showing the relief and the 
location of watering places, roads, and other features. (See Pis. 
II-IV and Fig. 1.) The watering places, with a few exceptions, 
were examined, about 160 samples of water were collected and 
shipped to the water-resources laboratory of the United States Geo¬ 
logical Survey for analysis, and signs directing to water were 
erected at 305 localities. In order to give information as to the 
specific location of watering places w T ith reference to« lines of travel, 
logs were made of nearly all the roads, including those that lead into 
the remotest parts of the desert. Guide books containing the de¬ 
tailed maps, the road logs, and condensed information regarding 
watering places were published as Water-Supply Papers 490-A, 
490-B, 490-C, and 490-D. Exploratory geologic maps of the area 
were made, and much information was obtained concerning its geog¬ 
raphy, geology, and ground-water conditions. Four comprehensive 
water-supply papers have been prepared, of which the present volume 
is the second to be published. The first covers the Salton Sea region 
and was issued as Water-Supply Paper 497; the other two, covering 
the Mohave Desert region and the Papago country, will be published 
as soon as funds for printing them are available. 

Among the most valuable of the products of this desert survey are 
the large maps, which show the mountains and other land forms by 
relief shading in brown, in a manner that can be understood by 
anyone. This relief shading will help travelers greatly in keeping 
their bearings and will at the same time enable physiographers to ' 
gain an adequate understanding of the surface features of the region. 
The relief shading was done by John H. Renshawe, on the basis of 
copy furnished by the geologists who did the field work. Mr. Ren- 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE I 





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MAP OF THE ARID REGION OF THE UNITED STATES 

Showing areas covered by guides to watering places and other 
water-supply papers of the U. S. Geological Survey 

Scale 7 , 000,000 


Compiled by O. E. Meinzer 


o —. Top _2 j00_ 300 _ 4 Q 0 Mil e« 

1923 


EXPLANATION 


Boundary of arid region requiring 
guides to watering places 


zp. 

% 

c/A 

Area covered by guides to desert 
watering places 

Published as Water-Supply Papers 
490-A, 490-B, 490-C, and 490-D 




Area covered by water-supply 
paper 

(The number is the aerial number of the 
paper. Only principal water-supply 
papers are shown. A complete list of 
publications relating to water resources 
and information as to areas covered by 
topographic maps can be obtained by 
writing to the U. S. Geological Survey, 
Washington, D. C. 



Principal road 



Other important road 






























































































































































































































































PREFACE 


XIII 


shawe brought to this task not only the skill and esthetic apprecia¬ 
tion of an artist but also an intelligent understanding of desert forms 
resulting from long experience as a topographer in the West. The 





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reproduction of the relief shading on the printed maps, which in¬ 
volved serious technical difficulties, was the work of S. J. Kubel and 
his able assistants in the division of engraving of the Geological 
Survey. 





































XIV 


PREFACE. 


The region described by Mr. Ross in this paper has been called 
the lower Gila region for want of a better name. In the vicinity 
of Phoenix and for a considerable distance down the Gila large 
tracts of land have been brought under irrigation, and in some 
other parts of the region smaller tracts have been developed. A 
large part of the region is, however, sparsely settled, very unpro¬ 
ductive, and almost unknown except to a few men who have small 
mining or live-stock interests in it. This part of the region is about 
as nearly a no man's land as can be found in the United States, as 
will be appreciated by anyone who reads the detailed descriptions of 
the routes of travel. The region has, however, a variety of ground- 
water conditions and many problems of water supply. Large quan¬ 
tities of ground water occur along the Gila and the Colorado, and 
supplies adequate for domestic and stock use have been found by 
sinking wells at many points throughout the region. Some of the 
special features of this paper are a description of Gila River and its 
physiographic history, by Mr. Ross, a history of irrigation along 
Gila River, by C. R. Olberg, and a discussion of methods of storing 
and utilizing small supplies of surface water, by Kirk Bryan. 


THE LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


By Clyde P. Ross. 

v 

INTRODUCTION. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT OF THE REGION. 

The region covered by this report lies mainly in central Yuma and 
western Maricopa counties, Ariz.. but includes small parts of Yavapai 
and Pinal counties. The portion in Maricopa County is an irregular- 
shaped area with Phoenix at its east end, bounded on the north and 
northeast by the road from Phoenix through Wickenburg to Wenden 
and on the south bv the Salt and Gila river vallevs. In Yuma 
County the region is bounded on the north by the road between 
IVenden and Parker through Cunningham Pass, on the south by the 
valley of Gila River, and on the west by Colorado River, which is 
the western boundary of the county and the State. 

SCOPE OF THE REPORT. 

Plan. —This report is designed, first, to give specific information 
in regard to watering places and routes of travel within the region 
covered, and. second, to give general information in regard to the 
geography, geology, and hydrology of the region. It may be con¬ 
sidered to be composed of three parts. The first part gives general 
information regarding the region as a whole. The second gives 
logs of all the principal routes and descriptions of the geography, 
geology, and water resources of the localities traversed by these 
roads. The third part gives detailed descriptions of all the known 
watering places in the region, with all the data available regarding 
the water at each place. The report also contains relief maps of the 
whole region showing the existing water supplies and a reconnais¬ 
sance geologic map. 

General chapters .—The general information presented was in part 
compiled from existing publications, but much of it is new. The 
historical sketch is entirely a compilation from existing publications. 
The chapters on climate, flora, and fauna are largely brief notes 
founded on field observations supplemented by published records. 
The geologic discussions are based very largely on data obtained 
during this investigation. Much still remains to be done before the 
geologic history of this interesting and somewhat complex region is 
known in its entirety. However, enough is known to give a general 

1 




y 


2 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. . 

knowledge of the conditions and to furnish a satisfactory basis for 
detailed work in particular areas. The geology is presented in more 
complete form in another report. 1 The hydrologic data are all pub¬ 
lished here for the first time. They are rather fragmentary and in¬ 
complete but should nevertheless prove valuable in the further de¬ 
velopment of the water resources of the region. As much informa¬ 
tion as possible was gathered in regard to the wells throughout the 
region. Analyses of representative waters were made in the water- 
resources laboratory of the United States Geological Survey and are 
given in the descriptions of watering places. Discussions of the 
ground-water conditions in a number of localities are given in the 
route descriptions. 

Route descriptions and logs .—The road logs are designed to enable 
a person unfamiliar with the region covered to follow the roads in 
this region. The accompanying route descriptions supplement the 
logs and give information of various kinds in regard to the routes 
and the country through which they pass. They are intended to aid 
the traveler in understanding the logs and in deciding which route 
to follow when alternative routes are available. They give all the 
local information obtained along the roads. 

For the sake of uniformity distances between towns are given 
from railroad station to railroad station, or if there is no railroad 
station the distance to the post office is given. The logs mention all 
places at which water or other supplies on or near the route can be 
obtained and all road forks and crossings in existence when the field 
work was done that am likely to be confusing to the traveler. Road 
details change with surprising frequency in parts of this region, and 
changes have occurred since these logs were made. More roads that 
show evidence of being recently traveled will be found in the winter 
than in the summer, because the annual assessment work on many 
of the mining prospects is commonly done during the cool and 
comfortable winter season. 

All the principal roads and as many of the minor ones as possible 
were traversed by automobile. The logs are based on speedometer 
readings, and most of them were checked by traveling the same road 
more than once. This method of measurement is subject to a number 
of unavoidable and indeterminate errors. An absolute check between 
the readings of speedometers on two different cars traveling the 
same road, or even those of one speedometer on the same car travel¬ 
ing the same road at two different times, can not be expected. 
However, it is believed that the logs here given are sufficiently 
accurate for practical purposes. For roads not actually traveled 
the best available information is given. 

1 Ross, C. P., Geology of the lower Gila region, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 
129, pp. 183-197, 1922. 



INTRODUCTION. 


3 


Chapter on watering places .—The information in the chapter on 
watering places is believed to be essentially complete for the country 
immediately contiguous to the roads traveled during the investiga¬ 
tion. For other parts of the region it is not quite complete but was 
gathered from the most reliable sources available and is sufficiently 
comprehensive and accurate to be of value to anyone not intimately 
acquainted with the region. 

Maps .—The relief maps (Pis. II-IV) are regarded as one of the 
most valuable results of this investigation. They are the only 
reliable maps covering the whole of this region. The United States 
Geological Survey has published detailed contour maps of the 
country around Parker, Yuma, and Phoenix. The northern part 
of the region covered by this report is shown on Bancroft’s map of 
northern Yuma County , 2 which, however, is the result of rapid 
reconnaissance work and is accurate only in a general way. The 
principal general maps of the region hitherto published are those 
of the early explorers, those made by the county engineers of Yuma 
and Maricopa counties, and the State map compiled by the General 
Land Office. 2a The maps here given are compiled from a large 
amount of plane-table surveying by the writer, a plane-table survey 
of the country between Phoenix and Wickenburg by C. G. 
Puffer, field assistant, all data previously published, an unpub¬ 
lished map of the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Kailroad, and 
miscellaneous data obtained by inquiry and correspondence. They 
are believed to be reliable in general, although for the most part 
not accurate in detail. For the territory close to the main roads 
the detail is sufficiently accurate to serve as a material aid in follow¬ 
ing the roads. The parts of the maps representing those portions 
of the region that were not visited during the investigation are 
much less reliable than the rest. This is particularly true of the 
area around the Chocolate and Trigo mountains. 

All the main roads and many of the subordinate roads have been 
indicated on the maps, mainly from data obtained in the field. All 
forks of any importance along these roads are shown, but many of 
the branch roads and trails are not. Even for the areas where the 
roads and trails are not shown or are only approximately indicated 
the relief shading should be of great service in assisting the traveler 
to find his way through the country. The brief descriptions of water¬ 
ing places remote from main roads should also help in this connec¬ 
tion. 

The relief shading on the maps is the work of J. H. Kenshawe, of 
the topographic branch of the United States Geological Survey. The 

* Bancroft, Howland, Ore deposits of northern Yuma County, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Bull. 451, pi. 1, 1911. 

*» The recently issued maps of Arizona prepared by the United States Geological Survey 
and the General Land Office incorporate the data obtained in this investigation. 

49417—23-2 




4 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


light is assumed to come from the northwest, so that the southeast 
slopes are in shadow. Different depths of shading have been used 
to indicate the altitude of different parts of the region. The high 
portions are shown in the lightest shades. All portions shown in 
the same shade are at equal altitudes, except that areas which are in 
shadow are darker than areas equally high which are illuminated by 
light from the northwest. The data on which the shading was based 
were taken from many sources and vary greatly in reliability. Only 
in those relatively small portions of the area for which standard con¬ 
tour maps have been published by the United States Geological Sur¬ 
vey can the shading be considered accurate in detail. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

The data in this report were gathered from so many different 
sources that it is impossible to acknowledge all of them individually. 
The writer wishes to express his warm appreciation of the uniform 
kindness and hearty cooperation of nearly everyone with whom he 
came into contact during the field work. He is indebted to the offi¬ 
cials of the Flower Pot Cattle Co., of Arlington; Mr. It. O. Worley, 
of Bouse; Mr. T. W. Bales, of Vicksburg; Mr. C. M. Hindman, 
county engineer of Yuma County; the Chamber of Commerce of 
Phoenix; and many others for assistance and valuable information. 
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Bailway Co. supplied valuable 
data in regard to alinements and altitudes along its lines. Both this 
company and the Southern Pacific Co. also gave much information in 
regard to water supplies. 

The work was done under the direction of O. E. Meinzer, chief of 
the division of ground waters of the United States Geological Sur¬ 
vey. He and the other members of the division have given many 
valuable suggestions, and several other members of the Geological 
Survey have furnished data. In particular E. L. Jones has furnished 
information in regard to the topography and water resources of the 
S. H. Mountains and other parts of the area with which he is per¬ 
sonally familiar. 

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE REGION. 

CLIMATE. 

• 

The healthfulness of the climate of Arizona is well known. The 
clear, dry air is invigorating and refreshing. The heat of mid¬ 
summer is considerable but almost never oppressive. If the visitor 
chooses his food and clothing with discretion, he need never suffer 
from the heat at any season. A temperature of 110° or even 115° F. 
on the Arizona desert is far more endurable than one of 90° in an 
eastern seacoast city. At all seasons except midsummer the 
climate is delightful. In the winter in southwestern Arizona the 


CLIMATE. 


5 


temperature frequently drops at night to the freezing point, but 
rarely indeed does it go far below that point. The daily varia¬ 
tions in temperature are marked, especially during the winter. In 
January and February the temperature may drop below freezing 
during the night and rise above 70° at noon. 

The rainfall in this portion of the State is small, ranging from 
about 3 inches a year at Yuma to 7 or 8 inches at Phoenix. Scarcely 
a day passes in which the sun does not shine for at least a portion 
of the time, and even partly cloudy days are rare. This is indeed 
a land of almost perpetual sunshine. There are two relatively 
rainy seasons—one in winter and one in midsummer. The prin¬ 
cipal elements of the climate are shown in the table on page 6 




Figure 2. —Graph showing distribution of rainfall at Phoenix, Parker, and Yuma, 

1910-1918. 


for nine stations well distributed over the region. The table on 
page 7 gives rainfall data by months for stations at the three 
corners of the region for nine years, and Figure 2 summarizes the 
same information graphically for easy comparison. There are at 
times marked variations from the normal amount of rainfall. In 
1905 the precipitation at Yuma was 11.41 inches, nearly 70 per cent 
of which fell in the first three months of the year. In 1899 the 
precipitation at the same place was only 0.60 inch. In 1904 the 
precipitation at Buckeye was 21.80 inches, and in 1891 at the same 
place it was 0.63 inch. Snow is almost unknown, and hail is rare. 
The scanty rainfall is a tremendous handicap to the devolpment 
of the region, but it adds to its attractiveness from the viewpoint 
of the tourist and the health seeker. As a result of the aridity 









































6 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


the scenery has a desolate but majestic beauty which is almost 
unique, and the sunsets have a gorgeous splendor unknown in the 
humid portions of the continent. 

Awe-inspiring tales of sandstorms on the Arizona desert are 
told and occasionally printed. Such storms occur, but though they 
may cause temporary discomfort, they are never the serious menace 
that they are sometimes asserted to be. None are so severe as to 
hamper travel seriously for more than a few 7 minutes or, at most, 
hours. 

The following description of a sand storm on La Posa Plain may 
serve to show what such storms are like. The storm came from the 
southeast and was preceded by showers of rain in the mountains 
bordering the plain. Before, during, and after the coming of the 
sand sharp claps of thunder in the southeast were heard. The first 
bodies of flying sand to be seen were long, thin pillars, reaching far 
up into the sky and resembling waterspouts on the ocean in shape 
and general appearance but moving with much greater velocity. 
These were followed by hurrying, fluttering, billowing clouds of sand, 
which were large but thin, so that the quantity of sand they trans¬ 
ported was not great. Behind these thin clouds was the main mass, 
advancing in a series of dense waves of fine sand. When the sand 
waves struck the mountains to the right they were shattered, and the 
“ spray ” of sand whirled up as high as the summits of the foothills, 
much like hurricane-driven water striking a similar obstacle. In 10 
or 15 minutes from the coming of the first sand most of it had passed. 
The wind remained high for a time, and small clouds of sand were 
scattered about. During the height of the storm it was impossible 
to travel, because the dense clouds of sand prevented the use of the 
eyes. Sand penetrated even into underclothing and filled the hair 
and every wrinkle in the skin not well protected by clothing, causing 
mild discomfort, but there was almost no cutting or burning of the 
skin. Sandstorms as severe as this are rare in the lower Gila region. 


Climatic data of the lower Gila region. 
[Compiled from records of the United States Weather Bureau.] 



Altitude 
above 
sea level 
(feet). 

Length of 
record, 
(years). 

Mean 

annual 

precipi¬ 

tation 

(inches). 

Average 
number 
of days 
per year 
■with’ 0.01 
inch or 
more pre¬ 
cipitation. 

Temperature (°F.). 

Maxi¬ 

mum 

recorded. 

Mini¬ 

mum 

recorded. 

Mean, 

Buckeye. 

980 

26 

7.36 

28 

117 

11 

68.2 

Parker. 

353 

22 

4.93 

19 

124 

9 

69.8 

Phoenix. 

1,108 

a23 

7.46 

36 

117 

16 

69.3 

Quartzsite. 

800 

6 

6. 53 

23 

119 

9 

69.6 

Salome. 

1,875 

11 

10.11 

31 

118 

16 

66.4 

Wickenburg. 

2,072 

9 

9.29 

31 

114 

14 

65.6 

Yuma. 

141 

o38 

3.13 

15 

118 

22 

71.7 


a Length of record of precipitation at Phoenix 40 years, at Yuma 50 years. 




























HISTORY. 


7 


Monthly and annual rainfall at Phoenix, Yuma , and Parker, 1910-1918. 

[Compiled from the records of the U. S. Weather Bureau. T, trace.] 

Phoenix. 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

An¬ 

nual. 

1910. 

0.50 

T. 

0.61 

0.29 

T. 

T. 

0. 65 

0.14 

T. 

0.18 

1.61 

0.34 

4.32 

1Q11 

1.14 

0.66 

.64 

.02 

0.00 

T. 

6. 47 

1.97 

1.16 

2. 24 

T. 

.11 

14.41 

1912. 

.00 

.00 

1.96 

.56 

.58 

.01 

1.29 

.72 

.14 

.82 

.00 

.83 

6. 91 

1913. 

.38 

1.93 

.07 

.51 

.00 

.00 

.94 

.32 

.13 

.01 

.83 

.28 

5.39 

1914. 

.30 

.71 

.92 

.10 

T. 

.05 

.21 

.30 

T. 

2.30 

1.00 

3.09 

8.88 

1915. 

1.79 

1.21 

.33 

.88 

.17 

.48 

1.12 

.25 

.10 

T. 

.54 

2.54 

9.41 

1916. 

2.34 

.13 

.37 

.15 

T. 

.00 

.77 

.30 

1.66 

.65 

.00 

.39 

6.76 

1917. 

2.20 

.95 

.15 

1. 22 

.45 

.00 

3. 97 

.11 

.55 

T. 

.00 

.00 

6.60 

1918. 

1.44 

.45 

.93 

.02 

T. 

• 

o 

00 

1.02 

3. 47 

.39 

.52 

1.92 

1.16 

11.40 

Mean. 

1.12 

.67 

.66 

.46 

.13 

• 

O 

1.83 

.84 

.46 

.75 

.65 

.97 

6.22 


Yuma. 


1910. 

0.56 

0. 00 

0.02 

T. 

0.00 

0.00 

0.11 

0.18 

0. 71 

0.07 

1.58 

0.00 

3.23 

1911. 

.43 

.63 

.12 

0.08 

• 

o 

O 

.00 

.44 

.01 

.23 

.84 

.00 

T. 

2.78 

1912. 

.00 

T. 

.78 

.10 

.90 

.62 

.18 

.14 

T. 

.17 

.00 

.22 

3.11 

1913... 

.12 

.14 

T. 

.18 

.00 

.00 

.17 

.28 

.00 

T. 

.15 

.00 

1.04 

1Q14 

i • m m ••••••■•■•■>•« 

. 05 

.33 

.74 

.30 

T. 

.01 

.44 

.00 

T. 

.79 

.50 

1.06 

4.22 

1915. 

2.56 

.72 

T. 

.08 

T. 

.00 

.34 

.41 

.10 

T. 

T. 

.12 

4,33 

1916. 

.52 

T. 

.24 

.01 

.00 

.00 

.92 

.02 

.01 

.00 

.00 

.73 

2. 45 

1917. 

1.02 

.06 

T. 

.24 

T. 

.00 

.50 

.23 

.17 

T. 

.00 

.00 

2.22 

1918. 

.81 

.12 

.72 

.00 

T. 

.02 

.02 

.53 

.02 

.35 

.07 

.24 

2. 90 

]N f ean ••••••••••••*• 

.67 

.22 

,29 

.11 

.10 

.07 

.33 

.20 

.14 

.26 

.26 

.26 

2.92 


Parker. 


1910. 

0.96 

T. 

T. 

0.22 

0.00 

0.00 

0.52 

0.31 

0.30 

0.00 

4.49 

T. 

6.80 

1911. 

1.52 

0. 87 

T. 

.00 

.00 

T. 

.22 

.00 

.82 

.05 

.00 

T. 

3. 48 

1912. 

.00 

.00 

0.77 

.50 

.20 

.50 

1.78 

.95 

T. 

1.45 

T. 

0.40 

6. 55 

1913. 

.15 

.70 

.00 

.00 

.00 

.00 

.58 

.64 

.13 

.00 

1.49 

T. 

3. 69 

1914. 

1.11 

1.33 

.40 

.89 

.53 

.42 

.04 

.20 

.13 

.90 

.35 

1.32 

7.62 

1915. 

2. 85 

.85 

.00 

.25 

T. 

.00 

.61 

1.02 

.95 

.00 

.44 

.19 

7.16 

1916. 

3.03 

.20 

1.77 

T. 

.06 

.00 

.00 

.00 

.88 

T. 

.00 

.75 

6.69 

1917. 

1. 68 

.14 

.15 

.55 

.00 

.00 

2.82 

.70 

T. 

.00 

T. 

T. 

6.04 

1918. 

.23 

.54 

.85 

.00 

.00 

.31 

.65 

.80 

T. 

.12 

.12 

1.14 

4. 76 

Mean. 

1.28 

.51 

.44 

.27 

.08 

.14 

.80 

.51 

.36 

.28 

1.01 

.42 

5.89 


HISTORY. 


The part of Arizona described in this report was but little known 
to white men until some time after it had come into the possession 
of the United States. Except for a few journeys along Gila and 
Colorado rivers the Spaniards scarcely penetrated it. They estab¬ 
lished no missions or settlements within its borders, so far as known, 
although they may perhaps have opened the ancient mine workings 
reported to have been found at the Castle Dome mine and elsewhere. 

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Yaca brought the first reports of the 
country now included in Arizona and New Mexico to the Spaniards 
in Sonora in 1536. His accounts, founded on the statements of the 
natives, incited the Spaniards to explore this country, which up to 
that time had never been visited by white men. Marcos de Niza, 
when he passed through the Santa Cruz Valley in 1539 on his way to 
Zuni, was the first Spaniard to enter Arizona. The next year he led 
































































































8 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Coronado over the same route. Hernando Alarcon explored the Gulf 
of California and the lower Colorado River at this time. In 1582 
Espejo, the explorer of New Mexico, visited the Hopi pueblos and 
found silver ore 45 miles west of Oraibi. Juan de Onate in 1604~5 
went from New Mexico to Williams River and followed it and Colo¬ 
rado River to the Gulf of California. He passed Gila River and 
named it Rio del Nombre de Jesus. The present name was first 
recorded in 1697. Onate’s expedition returned to New Mexico over 
the same route by which it came. 

Father Eusebio Kino, in 1691, began the labors of Jesuit mission¬ 
aries in southern Arizona. In January, 1697, Kino placed cattle, 
sheep, goats, and mares with the Indians of San Xavier del Bac, 
south of Tucson, and supplied live stock to the Indians on San 
Pedro River. The Jesuit missions of San Xavier del Bac and San 
Miguel de Guevavi, both south of the present city of Tucson, seem 
to have first had resident fathers about 1732, though the foundations 
for a large church at San Xavier were laid by Kino in April, 1700. 
They were probably maintained continuously for the rest of the 
Jesuit period. Arizona south of Gila River had been explored re¬ 
peatedly by this time. There is no evidence of mining for precious 
metals during this period except to a small extent .near Tubac, al¬ 
though the Jesuits did some prospecting. Of Kino’s fourteen 
journeys in Arizona, four were attempts to find a land route to Cal¬ 
ifornia. He reached the vicinity of the present settlement of Dome 
in the spring of 1699, and on another trip in the fall of 1700 he 
reached the Colorado below Yuma. In November, 1701, he crossed 
the Colorado below Yuma, and in 1702 with Father Manuel Gonzales 
he reached the mouth of Colorado River. 

In 1744 Father Jacobo Sedelmair followed the north bank of the 
Gila from the vicinity of Casa Grande probably to Agua Ca- 
liente, being the first to explore the Big Bend of the Gila. From 
Agua Caliente or some point near by he went across country to 
Colorado River, reaching that stream at a spring, perhaps near 
the modern Ehrenberg. He followed Colorado River to Williams 
River and then returned. This is the only recorded Spanish ex¬ 
pedition of importance which penetrated into the interior of the 
region described in this paper. Sedelmair made two more expedi¬ 
tions in 1748 and 1750. In the first of these he noted the pictographs 
in what are now known as the Painted Rock Mountains and named 
the rancherfa at the hot springs below and on the other side of 
Gila River Santa Marfa del Agua Caliente. Thence he followed the 
north bank of the Gila and reached the Colorado at a point about 2 
leagues above the junction of the two rivers. Subsequently he fol¬ 
lowed Colorado River to the last Yuma rancherfa below the Gila 
and then returned by the same route. 


HISTORY. 


9 


The Jesuit missionaries were expelled by order of the King 
of Spain in 1767 and replaced by Franciscans in the following 
year. The presidio of Tucson was established in 1776. The mis¬ 
sionaries had numerous conflicts with Apache and other Indian tribes 
between 1767 and 1790. From 1790 to 1820 there was peace with the 
Apaches and comparative prosperity. Some mining was carried on 
during this time, and there was stock raising and farming near the 
presidios. 

Father Francisco Garces made four expeditions from his mission 
at San Xavier del Bac into the northern country during this period. 
In 1768 Garces set out from San Xavier and descended Gila 
and Colorado rivers to the Gulf of California, thus repeating the 
work of Kino and Sedelmair. In 1774, with a military expedition, 
he made the overland journey to California by way of Yuma, open¬ 
ing the earliest transcontinental route. The next year, with a second 
expedition on its way to California, Garces left the others at Yuma, 
visited the tribes along the Colorado, and finally leaving the Colorado 
near Needles went overland to California, exploring Mohave River 
for the first time. Returning from California by the same route, 
he struck east from Needles to the vicinity of the modern Kingman. 
Going up the plateau, he visited the Havasupai Indians in the 
Grand Canyon and later the Hopis at Oraibi. Being rebuffed 
by the Hopis, he returned to San Xavier by the previous route 
along Colorado and Gila rivers. This intrepid explorer was killed 
in a revolt of the Yuma Indians on July 17, 1781, at a mission 
and presidio which had been started at Yuma the year before. 

Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1822. From that 
time until the Arizona country came into the possession of the 
United States little was accomplished there. All the presidios 
except Tubac and Tucson were temporarily abandoned, and Apache 
troubles were renewed. In 1827-28 an order of expulsion against 
Spaniards caused many of the friars to leave, and after this the 
establishments in Arizona were almost entirely abandoned. 

The only explorations of Arizona in Mexican times, with the ex¬ 
ception of short trips of troops in pursuit of Apache raiders, were 
those of foreign trappers, chiefly Americans from New Mexico. Kit 
Carson is supposed to have trapped on Gila River, perhaps as early 
as 1826. Among other early American pioneers in this region were 
the Patties, Pauline Weaver, who discovered the gold placers near 
La Paz, Ewing Young, and David Jackson. The Apaches are said 
to have been friendly to the Americans until about 1836, when 
Americans treacherously killed one of their chiefs with many of his 
people. 

In 1848, as a result of the Mexican War, New Mexico, including 
Arizona north of Gila River, was ceded to the United State# 


10 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


During the war Arizona was occupied and traversed by a military 
expedition under Gen. Philip Kearny. Col. Philip Cooke, Lieut. 
W. H. Emory, and other officers of the expedition obtained and 
published much important geographic knowledge. 

The discovery of gold in California caused a great migration 
from other parts of the United States and from Mexico. Many 
parties passed through the valleys of Santa Cruz and Gila rivers 
on their way to the land of promise. The number of emigrants 
crossing the Colorado near the mouth of the Gila before 1851 
has been estimated at 60,000, which is probably somewhat too high. 

By the Gadsden Purchase of 1854 the part of Arizona south of 
Gila River was bought by the United States for $10,000,000. The 
international boundary was surveyed in 1855, and the United States 
took possession in 1856 by sending troops to Tucson. 

Several more or less successful attempts to navigate Colorado 
River with small steamers were made about this time. Ferries were 
put in operation at Yuma. The first stage line in Arizona, known as 
the Butterfield stage, was started in 1856 and ran between San Diego, 
Calif., and Marshall, Tex., following the Gila Valley in southwestern 
Arizona. This line ceased operation at the outbreak of the Civil 
War. 

The settlement at the present site of Yuma was established in 1854. 
It was first called Colorado City, then Arizona City, and finally 
Yuma. Gila City, at the place now called Dome, was established 
in 1858 because of the discovery of gold placers but had a short life. 
In 1862 placers were found on the Colorado, and La Paz, Ehren- 
berg, and Mineral City grew up as a result of the ensuing excite¬ 
ment. 

At the beginning of the Civil War the troops were withdrawn 
from Arizona. As a result the Apaches resumed their raids on a 
large scale, and nearly all the whites were killed, driven from the 
country, or forced to concentrate in Tucson. It has been estimated 
that the white population of Arizona was reduced to 500 or 600 
people at this time. Mining and other industrial enterprises practi¬ 
cally ceased to exist for the time being. 

When Arizona was ceded to the United States it was made part 
of the Territory of New Mexico, and the Gadsden Purchase was also 
included in that Territory. This did not suit the inhabitants of 
Arizona, who claimed that they were not and could not be ade¬ 
quately governed from so distant a place as Santa Fe, the capital 
of New Mexico. In 1856 a convention at Tucson sent a delegate to 
Congress and petitioned for independent Territorial government, but 
the petition was refused. In 1860 a convention at Tucson drew up a 
provisional constitution to remain in force “ until Congress shall 


HISTORY. 


11 


organize a Territorial government and no longer.” The new Ter¬ 
ritory was to include all of New Mexico south of latitude 33° 40' N. 
Officials were appointed and New Mexican legislation was ignored, 
but nothing further was done. In 1861 Tucson was occupied by 
Texan troops, declared for the Confederacy, and sent a delegate 
(who was not admitted) to the Confederate Congress. That body 
in January, 1862, passed an act organizing the Territory and includ¬ 
ing New Mexico in it. This act did not take effect, however, as in 
May of that year the Texans were driven out by Federal troops from 
California. Arizona Territory was finally organized by act of Con¬ 
gress of February 24, 1863. It was defined as that part of New 
Mexico w T est of the meridian of 109°. The Territorial capital was 
at Prescott from 1863 to 1867, at Tucson from 1867 to 1877, and at 
Prescott again from 1877 to 1889 and was finally moved to Phoenix. 

The lower Gila region was never the scene of such extensive and 
bloody Indian warfare as some other parts of Arizona, because of 
the character of its aboriginal inhabitants and of the scarcity of 
white settlers in the early days. The region was so inhospitable that 
it supported only a meager Indian population. The Pimas, the 
Maricopas, and some Papagos dwelt on the banks of Gila River near 
the junction with Salt River. The Gila furnished water for the ex¬ 
tensive irrigation systems for which the Pimas and Maricopas are so 
well known. These tribes were from the first friendly to the whites 
and foes of the savage Apaches. Near the junction of Gila and Colo¬ 
rado rivers were the Yumas, originally a powerful and warlike tribe. 
Their reception of the first Spanish explorers was cordial. Although 
they later revolted and killed the priests and Spanish soldiers living 
among them, they were in general not very troublesome to the whites. 
They suffered much in wars with other tribes, and their strength 
was broken in 1857 by a decisive defeat at the hands of the Pimas. 
North of them on the Colorado were the Mojaves and related tribes, 
who maintained a precarious livelihood by farming on the bottom 
lands of Colorado River, depending for their water on overflow" 
during floods. The Yavapais or Apache-Mojaves lived in part in 
the region between Colorado and Gila rivers. They were in early 
days inclined to be friendly toward the whites, but after being sub¬ 
jected to outrage from the whites in 1866 to 1868 went on the warpath 
until about 1872. The vicious and warlike Apaches, who have left 
so bloody a record in other parts of the State, did not trouble the few 
white settlers in the lower Gila region because the whites had noth¬ 
ing worth stealing and the distance and difficulties of travel from 
the Apaches’ mountain fastnesses were too great. 

The only attractions for w T hite men in this region in the early days 
v T ere the possibilities of trapping and hunting in the valleys of Gila 


12 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


and Colorado rivers and the reported mineral wealth. The trap¬ 
ping and hunting carried on by hardy adventurers added to the 
knowledge of the region and helped to attract Americans to it but 
did not result in permanent settlements. The gold excitements on 
Gila and Colorado rivers and the resultant mushroom cities have 
already teen mentioned and will be referred to again in the route 
descriptions. In 1863 the lead and silver deposits of Castle Dome 
and the gold ores of Vulture were discovered. These deposits 
yielded rich returns for a number of years. The copper deposits 
at Planet were early found and worked. These and later mines are 
referred to in the chapter on mining and in the route descriptions. 
Agriculture and stock raising are both comparatively late develop¬ 
ments in the lower Gila region. The Mormon settlement made in 
1876 near the present city of Phoenix was one of the first agricul¬ 
tural enterprises of any importance attempted by white men in this 
region. Since 1885, when the last serious Apache outbreak occurred, 
there has been a steady increase in population and prosperity. 

Yuma County is one of the four original counties into which, in 
1864, Arizona Territory was divided. The others were Pima, Mo¬ 
have, and Yavapai. Maricopa County was created in 1871 out of 
parts of Pima and Yavapai counties. 

In accordance with an act of Congress of June 16, 1906, the in¬ 
habitants of Arizona and New Mexico voted November 6, 1906, on 
the question of uniting the two Territories into a State to be called 
Arizona. New Mexico was favorable to this measure, but it was 
defeated by the Arizona vote. By presidential proclamation of 
February 14, 1912, Arizona became a State. New Mexico had 
received statehood January 6, 1912. 

The following books are the principal authorities on the history 
of the region and are the sources of most of the information in this 
chapter: 

Bancroft, H. H., History of Arizona and New Mexico. 

Bolton, H. E., Kino’s Historical memoir of the Pimerla Alta, 2 vols., Cleve¬ 
land, 1919. 

Coues, Elliot, On the trail of a Spanish pioneer, New York, 1900. 

Reports of the Territorial governor of Arizona. 

Hodge, F. W., Handbook of American Indians: Bur. Am. Ethnology Bull. 30, 

2 parts, 1910. 

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

Mining .—This portion of Arizona has been extensively prospected. 
Mineral deposits are now known to occur in every mountain range 
and in many of the groups of hills within the region. The only hills' 
in which mineral deposits have not and in all probability will not be 
found are those composed exclusively of Quaternary basalt. 


INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 


13 


The types of ore deposited and the minerals found are many and 
diverse. Mining has been carried on in this region for gold, silver, 
copper, lead, zinc, mercury, iron, and manganese. There has been 
some prospecting for tungsten, but no mining. Fluorite occurs in 
the Castle Dome district and possibly elsewhere but has not been 
extensively developed. Gypsum occurs in some places in the region, 
but no deposits of commercial importance are known. 

Mining is in progress in several of the mountain ranges in this 
region, but no large mines are being operated at present. In the 
past the Vulture mine, in the Vulture Range; the mines about Kofa, 
in the S. H. Mountains; the Harquahala or Bonanza mine, in the 
Little Harquahala Mountains; and some less well-known properties 
have shipped considerable gold ore. Silver and lead were mined for 
some years in the Castle Dome district, in the mountains of the same 
name. Gold placers were worked for some years along Colorado 
River near La Paz and Ehrenberg, in and near the Dome Rock and 
Plomosa mountains, and at Gila City, on Gila River at the site of 
the present town of Dome. Placer mining is still in progress in the 
Plomosa and Dome Rock mountains, but elsewhere it has almost 
entirely ceased. The scarcity of water appears to be the principal 
obstacle to the successful development of the placers. In the old vein 
mines the richer and more accessible portions of the ore bodies have 
been worked out, and lack of transportation facilities and of capital 
has prevented further development. Work at the Harquahala mine 
was resumed in 1918 with the hope of finding copper ore. It is pos¬ 
sible that many of the mines now abandoned could again be made 
profitable producers by development in depth. 

At the present time there is considerable activity in the small copper 
mines in the vicinity of Cunningham Pass, in the Harcuvar Moun¬ 
tains. Mining for copper and other metals is being carried on in the 
Buckskin and Plomosa mountains and to a small extent elsewhere. 
More or less desultory prospecting is in progress in all the moun¬ 
tain ranges. In 1918 plans were being considered for reopening some 
of the mines in the vicinity of Kofa. 

Agriculture .—Within the lower Gila region there are only two 
irrigation projects of major importance—the Salt River valley 
project and the Yuma project—but the best land under each project 
lies outside of this region. Small irrigation districts are served by 
the Buckeye, Arlington, Air Line, Avondale, Enterprise, and Gila 
River Land Co.’s canals along Gila River west of Salt River valley. 
Forage crops are the principal ones raised in these districts, but 
wheat, corn, and long-staple cotton are grown to some extent, espe¬ 
cially near Buckeye. The ranch of the Southwest Cotton*Co., north 
of Avondale, was still in the development stage at the time of visit 


14 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


in 1917. Numerous irrigation projects have been attempted in the 
past along Gila River west of those named above, but all were un¬ 
successful, or successful for a short time only. At present small 
areas are being irrigated near each of the towns on the river, but 
no important projects are in progress, although one, the Gillespie 
project, is reported to be nearly prepared to start irrigation. A his¬ 
torical account of irrigation aiong the Gila is given on pages 95-108. 

There is a little irrigation near the towns on the Santa Fe, Prescott 
& Phoenix Railroad and in Hassayampa and La Posa plains and 
Butler and Harrisburg vallej^s, but no large areas have been brought 
under irrigation, nor does it seem likely that any will be in the 
future. A considerable part of the Colorado River Indian Reserva¬ 
tion near Parker is under irrigation, principally by the Indians. 
There is reported to be a thriving bee industry and some irrigation 
in Cibola Valley. 

The following notes will give a general idea of the possibilities 
for future agricultural development, so far as these can be judged 
from the information now available. Sufficient data have been ob¬ 
tained to show that the ground water lies so deep in a large portion 
of the region as to preclude its development for irrigation from 
pumped wells. The Harquahala Plain, most or all of the Ranegras 
Plains, and the Middle Well country, except that near Gila River, 
certainly are in this class. Irrigation farming in Butler and Mc¬ 
Mullen valleys and Hassayampa Plain, where water is 100 feet or 
more below the surface, would probably prove too expensive under 
present conditions. The valleys of Gila and Colorado rivers, the 
Harrisburg Valley, and the districts in the immediate vicinity of 
Bouse and Parker have fairly shallow ground water. Attempts at 
irrigation on the lower Gila have so far met with poor success. Pos¬ 
sibly development more intelligently directed would be successful in 
some parts of this valley. When better transportation facilities are 
available several fertile tracts on Colorado River will probably be 
irrigated. 

Castle Dome Plain and a considerable portion of Palomas Plain 
do not seem well adapted for agriculture even if water were avail¬ 
able, as the soil does not appear to be suitable. The same can be said 
of large portions of Cactus Plain, although it is quite possible that 
some parts of this plain might prove productive if irrigated. 

Of the country examined during the present investigation only 
La Posa Plain remains to be considered. The greater portion of this 
plain is rather far from railroad facilities. There is, however, a good 
road 24 miles long betweeen Quartzsite, near its center, and Bouse, * 
on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. Very little develop¬ 
ment of the ground water has been undertaken in La Posa Plain. 
Placer-mining men are said to have sunk some rather deep wells, 


FLORA. 


15 


but the records of these wells are not available. The wells in Quartz- 
site show that water is present at depths of about 40 feet. The soil 
in parts of the plain appears to be of good quality. It is probable 
that in the future both stock raising and farming will increase here. 

The country in the vicinity of Alamo Springs, where Clanton & 
Smith report that they have a well only 35.5 feet deep, was not 
visited. In any event, this locality is rather too far from any rail¬ 
road for profitable farming at present. 

The geologic discussions in this report will make it clear to the 
reader that the structure is not favorable for the development of 
artesian flows from the rock formations. So far as is known the 
structure of the valley deposits does not fulfill the conditions neces¬ 
sary for obtaining artesian flows, except perhaps in river bottoms, 
such as those of the Colorado, where flows may be obtained. 

Stock raising .—Cattle raising is at present being carried on suc¬ 
cessfully in Arlington, Clanton, and Butler valleys and Hassayampa, 
Ranegras, Harquahala, and La Posa plains and to a minor extent 
elsewhere. Cattle and sheep range on the north side of the Bighorn 
Mountains and in the vicinity of Wickenburg. The scarcity of 
water and of forage grasses and the difficulties of transportation make 
very intensive use of the region for stock raising somewhat doubtful. 
However, medium-sized ranches will continue to be successful in the 
region, and as transportation facilities and the demand for cattle 
increase the stock business will doubtless improve. 

FLORA. 

The desert of southwestern Arizona has an abundant and diversi¬ 
fied flora of a type found nowhere else in the United States. The 
surprising number of large woody plants in this arid region has 
given rise to the term “ arboreal desert.” jSTo part of southwestern 
Arizona is so dry that it is without plants. All are strange to 
dwellers in more humid regions, and the weird and fantastic forms 
assumed by many of them are one of the most fascinating features 
of the region. 

The types of plants found in any particular area are closely con¬ 
trolled by the altitude, topography, soil, and depth to ground water. 
In the river valleys, where ground water is shallow, are found arrow 
weed, willow, salt grass, and dense thickets and miniature forests 
of creeping and arboreal mesquite. In places where the ground 
water lies sufficiently near the surface to be reached by the roots, 
mesquite grows to heights of 20 and even 40 feet. Along Colorado 
River there are groves of cottonwood. Old settlers say that 40 
years ago cottonwoods were abundant along the Gila also, but they 
are practically all gone now from the banks of that stream in this 


16 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


region. At Osborne Well, in the Buckskin Mountains, far from any 
permanent streams, are several good-sized cottonwood trees, but 
it is probable that these have been planted by men and are not 
native to the locality. 

In the interior valleys creosote, ironwood, palo verde, various 
bunch grasses, and some cacti occur. The cacti are more plentiful in 
the higher valleys and the mountains, but some barrel cactus, prickly 
pear, and cholla grow in nearly all the valleys. Plate V shows typi¬ 
cal desert vegetation near Buckeye. Mesquite grows in a number of 
valleys where the ground water is certainly too deep to be reached by 
the roots (see p. 40), but in such localities it is always stunted and 
poor and usually occurs in the path of flood waters. Ocatilla grows 
in most of the valleys but appears to be most abundant in the higher 
parts of the valleys and on the lower slopes of the mountains. 

In the mountains there is much less vegetation than in the valleys, 
because many of the slopes are bare rock or covered with rock talus. 
The various cacti are abundant here. The stately sahuaro is the most 
striking representative of this family. These plants are abundant in 
many places on the lower slopes of the mountains. In some of the 
small valleys within the mountains cholla is the predominating form 
of vegetation. Creosote, ironwood, various cacti, besides those men¬ 
tioned above, some palo verde, and subordinate amounts of bunch 
grasses also occur in the mountains. 

FAUNA. 

Most of the wild animals in this region are small and not very 
abundant. A tourist might very readily travel through the country 
in an automobile several times without seeing any of its native four¬ 
legged inhabitants. A number of interesting animals make their 
homes here, however. Whitetail deer live in some of the mountain 
ranges but are rather rare. Bocky Mountain sheep can still be found 
in some of the more inaccessible and rocky parts of the mountains. 
Mountain lion and wildcats are occasionally met. Coyotes advertise 
their presence almost every night by discordant vocal concerts which 
must be heard to be appreciated. Foxes are fairly plentiful. They 
are shy but curious animals and frequently come into camp at night. 
In some of the valleys jack rabbits are abundant. Cottontail rabbits 
are common in most of the mountains and in the river bottoms. 
Kangaroo rats and other small rodents are numerous in several 
localities. 

Quail are very common throughout the winter and fall in the 
valley of Gila Kiver and are found in less abundance elsewhere in 
the region. Turtle and mourning doves are to be seen in the irri¬ 
gated districts, sometimes in considerable numbers. Cranes, jack- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE 



DESERT VEGETATION IN BUCKEYE VALLEY. 




































































■ 














TOPOGRAPHY. 


17 


snipe, and similar birds frequent the river bottoms. There are several 
types of small birds, some of them attractive songsters, but they are 
more common in the irrigated districts than elsewhere. Crows are, 
at times, all too common in irrigated districts. Turkey buzzards are 
omnipresent but are seldom noticed except when there is carrion in 
the vicinity. 

Reptiles constitute a characteristic part of the desert fauna. Ac¬ 
tive little lizards are found everywhere. The torpid Gila monster is 
occasionally found. Many awe-inspiring tales are told regarding 
this lizard, the only one whose bite is at all poisonous, but they rest 
on only a meager foundation of fact. Snakes of several kinds are 
present; they are rather abundant in some localities. The only 
dangerous one is the rattler, and even he asks only to be let alone. 
Land turtles live in the mountains, but they are seldom seen. 

Scorpions, vinegarroons, tarantulas, and centipedes are fairly 
abundant but not enough to be particularly troublesome. Flies and 
mosquitoes are nuisances in the vicinity of bodies of surface water 
but are absent over most of the region. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The lower Gila region contains numerous rugged mountain ranges, 
most of which are relatively short but have a pronounced elongation 
in one direction. Between successive mountain ranges there are 
broad, smooth intermontane valleys, deeply filled with detrital ma¬ 
terial. All the valleys in the region, with probably one exception, 
have openings in their inclosing walls through which the drainage 
finds outlet. The probable exception is the valley between the Big¬ 
horn and Vulture mountains, the floor of which is reported to be 
covered with a shallow sheet of water for several months after heavy 
rains. 

The region lies in the drainage basin of Colorado River. Gila 
River is the principal tributary of the Colorado and drains nearly 
all of the region except an area in the northern part that is tributary 
to Williams River and a rather narrow belt along the west side 
that drains directly into the Colorado. The Gila is the only tribu¬ 
tary of Colorado River in the region except Williams River that 
contains water in considerable portions of the bed at all seasons. 
Even the Gila, however, is a through-flowing stream only after 
heavy rains. The principal tributaries of Gila River in this region 
are Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers. They contain flowing water 
after rains and have water in certain sections of their beds during 
most of the year. This is particularly true of the Agua Fria. 
The other streamways in this region are washes that contain flowing 
water only in times of flood. A few of these contain water in small 


18 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


natural tanks during most of the year. Many of the washes lose 
their identity in the sand of the valleys, and the water which in 
times of flood fills these washes with roaring torrents rarely remains 
above the surface until it flows into the Colorado or the Gila, except 
where the water has its source very close to one of these main 
streams. The largest of the dry washes is Centennial Wash, de¬ 
scribed on pages 39-41. 

There are thirty mountain ranges and about fifteen groups of hills 
in the region. The average length of the ranges is a little over 20 
miles, and the average width about 6 or 7 miles. The height of the 
mountains varies considerably. The average height of the principal 
peaks above the bordering valleys is more than 2,000 feet. The 
highest peak is Harquahala Mountain, which is reported to reach an 
altitude of 5,669 feet above sea level and which rises abruptly 3,300 
feet above McMullen Yalley, at its northern base, and even higher 
above the Harquahala Plain to the south. The valleys range in 
altitude from about 125 feet above sea level at Yuma to more than 
2,000 feet in McMullen and Butler valleys. 

The topography of the mountains is of three general types, which 
are directly related to their geology. Ranges composed essentially 
of metamorphic rocks, including gneisses, are in general rather 
elaborately carved, have serrate profiles, and are fairly symmetrical 
with respect to their divides. The line of summits along the divide 
of such a range is a definite and pronounced feature. The slopes 
of these mountains are usually steep and the outlines are jagged. 

In marked contrast to the ranges of metamorphic rocks are those 
composed principally of volcanic rocks other than basalt. In these 
erosion has worked on a number of beds of lava and tuff cut by in¬ 
trusive pipes, dikes, and sills. The result is a bewildering maze of 
buttes, mesas, peaks, and pinnacles. Sheer cliffs and castellated 
summits are the rule. As the ranges are fault blocks they have defi¬ 
nite trends, but in each there is an almost total lack of anything 
approaching symmetry. Their surface features are further compli¬ 
cated by minor normal faulting, which has locally tipped lava blocks 
to considerable angles. 

The buttes capped with basalt of probable Tertiary age (see pp. 
22-23) present a third type of mountain form. They are flat or 
somewhat rounded on top and not greatly dissected, but their sides 
are sheer cliffs in the upper parts, usually with talus slopes below. 
They are prominent features of the landscape, rising 500 feet or more 
above the surrounding country. Yellow Medicine Butte rises 1,300 
feet above its northern base, and there are others of comparable 
height. 

Many of the hills are small replicas of the mountains, but those 
built up of Quaternary basalts (p. 27) are of a different type. They 


GEOLOGY. 


19 


are rounded or conical hills, none of which are very high. Isolated 
cones and hills with two conical peaks are common. Associated 
with these are mesas, 100 feet or so high, formed by flows of basalt. 
The mesa on which Stanwix, Sentinel, and Tartron are situated 
has an area of more than 200 square miles. This is by far the largest 
of the lava mesas, but some of the others are also prominent topo¬ 
graphic features. 

The valleys between the ranges have slopes that average roughly 
20 to 30 feet to the mile. In some places—for example, the Rane- 
gras Plains south of Vicksburg—the surface is covered with a 
deposit of fine silt laid down by sheet floods from the mountains. 
Such plains have much less slope and are typically not cut by washes, 
whereas the more usual type of valley has numerous washes extending 
out from the mountains and persisting with definite channels through 
all or most of the length of the valley. The washes have a tendency 
to interlace with one another, forming a braided pattern. This is 
especially well developed in Castle Dome Valley, southwest of the 
Castle Dome Mountains. The line of demarcation between valley 
and mountain is in many places sharp, and the change in grade is 
abrupt. In places, however, there is an intermediate rock-floored 
surface, similar to the mountain pediment described by Bryan. * 3 
These surfaces are, however, by no means as pronounced features 
as the mountain pediments in the Papago country, south of the Gila. 

v 

GEOLOGY. 4 

The commercial development of such a region as that here de¬ 
scribed is intimately related to the geology. The hope of finding 
mineral deposits usually furnishes one of the initial incentives for 
pioneering in such regions. When promising deposits are found, 
towns spring into existence, and the settlement of the country com¬ 
mences. In the early days in southwestern Arizona fur trapping 
vied with prospecting as an occupation for the adventurous frontiers¬ 
men. When the country became a little better known and more set¬ 
tled, cattle raising and farming were introduced. Both of these in¬ 
dustries, particularly farming, depend on a supply of water for their 
success. The available surface water here soon proved insufficient, 
and recourse was early had to utilization of the ground water by 
means of wells. The distribution, quantity, and quality of the ground 
water in any region are directly dependent on the geology and physi¬ 
ography of the region. 

* Bryan, Kirk, Erosion and sedimentation in the Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 730, pp. 52-65, 1922. 

4 For a more complete description of the geology of this region see U. S. Geol. Survey 
Prof. Paper 129, pp. 183-197, 1922 ; see also the route descriptions on pp. 152-194. 

49417—23-3 





20 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


ROCK FORMATIONS. 


At first glance most of the mountains in this section of the country 
present a very similar appearance. Examination soon shows, how¬ 
ever, that they are composed of a number of very diverse types of 
rocks. (See PI. YI.) There are great masses of ancient metamor- 
phic rocks, of granite and granitic gneiss, of lava and tuff belonging 
to at least two distinct ages, and of subordinate amounts of sedi¬ 
mentary rock associated with the older lava and tuff. Sand, clay, and 
gravel fill the valleys between the ranges. More detailed work will 
undoubtedly result in still further subdivision of the rocks. The 
metamorphic rocks are certainly of two and probably of more than 

two ages. The granitic rocks belong to at least two periods of intru¬ 
sion. 

BASAL COMPLEX. 

Highly metamorphosed sediments with associated granitoid gneiss 
and other rocks of igneous origin make up the whole or a large part 
of many of the mountain ranges in this region. These rocks will be 
referred to collectively as the basal complex. They may be divided 
into four general groups—(1) igneous rocks, (2) highly meta- 
moiphosed schistose rocks, probably in the main of sedimentary 
origin, (3) thoroughly metamorphosed but much less schistose 
sedimentary rocks separated from No. 2 by an unconformity, (4) 
metamorphosed but not schistose limestone and quartzite, which are 
the youngest sedimentary rocks in the basal complex. The igneous 
rocks may be further subdivided into batholithic masses with asso¬ 
ciated dikes and a group of somewhat younger dikes which cut the 
less metamorphosed portions of the basal complex. 

This ancient complex is present in every mountain range and al¬ 
most every lange of hills in the region. Even in those mountainous 
areas where it is not shown on the geologic map (PI. YI) outcrops 
can be found in stream beds that have cut through the younger 
formations which elsewhere cover it. In some of the hills, however, 
especially those which are composed of basaltic lavas, such as the 
Bouse Hills and Palo Yerde Hills, metamorphic rocks do not occur. 

There can be little doubt that the granitoid gneiss and associated 
metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, with the possible exception of the 
youngest of the sedimentary rocks, are of pre-Cambrian age. The 
fact that no fossils that can be used to determine the age of the beds 
have yet been found in any of the rocks examined during the pres¬ 
ent investigation makes all the determinations of the age of the 
formations somewhat uncertain. However, it can not be questioned 
that these metamorphic rocks are very old. Some of them may 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE VI 



r-rt 


(g^arrigan Peak ^ 

J/p mountains 


i£'& 




Compiled from data obtained in the field by Clyde P. Ross, published geologic maps 
prepared by Howland Bancroft and E. L. Jones covering parts of the northwestern 
portion of the region, an unpublished map of the Sierra Estrella by F. C. Schrader, 
and, on the southern border, data furnished by Kirk Bryan. 


CACTUS 

PLAIN 


FOUNTAINS 


j/sg-' 

T 

ywiSRj 




-Wickeriburj 


tvT-3. ;| 


BOUSE 
HILLS / 


■TAINS 


VULTURE 




Pfi/J ifJ MMM S'. 


JJtting 




Q U|A 

lillNTiA 1 N|?§§ 


•KOMtHl 


S**S A Ya MPA 






> lVa r,1 ' d 1 

Peak Q' 




YORK 


MINE. 


WHITE 

MOUNTAINS 


«»Big horn 




"SiZoPff/ 


SADDLI 


MOUNTAII 


BUCKEYE 


LITTLE 

HORN 

MOUNTAINS 




S CglLA 


ST 

Si. 

v vv 


Yellow 


ND1AN 


Oy/X-7; 


. 7 $'{>/ 

It/T H t'.T-B' tan* 

mountain^ 

y.iSs.i 


Q WOolsey 


lighthouse 

Rock 




BLAINE MINE 


RVATI ON, 


Turtleback Mtj 




PALOMAS PLAIN 


DOME / 


OII.A BKNIJ/ 


INDIAN 


mtamwrAnnw 


/ /plain 


GUA 


SOOTH 


ElN T I N EL 


Tbrtrun 


PLAINS 


;o' >—<-■ 

ggins MOUNTAI 


iriLE ATOP 
(jQAntelope Peak 

mSunV-ins 


LAGUNA MTS / 


L'S.'HvL'V-' 


Aijitelope H I! 


‘ RAC’f C 


M tNt 


YUMA 


112 30 


113 30 


U4 30 


Jackson Butte 


RES 


114 30 


113 30 


112 30 


RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGIC MAP OF LOWER GILA REGION ARIZONA 

By Clyde P. Ross 


Scale 504000 
5 10 


20 Miles 


EXPLANATION 


Recent stream deposits, valley 
fill of unconsolidated or lo¬ 
cally consolidated gravel and 
sand, and older somewhat con¬ 
solidated and disturbed beds 
in and near the mountains 


Basalt 

(Lava Jiowa and related intrusive plugs) 








_ 


Lava, tuff, agglomerate, and 
related fine-grained intrusive 
rocks, and subordinate amounts 
of sedimentary beds of arkose, 
sandstone, shale, and calcare¬ 
ous rocks. 


Granitic rocks intrusive in basal 
complex 




Basal complex 

(Granitic gneisses, micaceous quartzite, 
arkose, and chloritic schist, metamor¬ 
phosed quartzite, limestone, and dolo¬ 
mite. Includes also small amounts of 
later rocks, particularly undifferen¬ 
tiated intrusives) 


NOTE: White areas left uncolored 
for lack of information 


1923 


PRE-CAMBRIAN AND PROBABLY TERTIARY QUATERNARY 

PERHAPS IN PART MESOZOIC 

















































































































































































































































































































































































































































. 























































































































































































































































GEOLOGY. 


21 


be as young as Paleozoic, but the absence of fossils is a strong argu¬ 
ment against this supposition. The fact that all these rocks, 
with the exception of the youngest group, are very much more 
metamorphosed than the known Paleozoic formations to the north 
and east is another strong reason for believing that they are pre- 
Cambrian. rather than Paleozoic. There is no reason for believing 
that there has been more metamorphism in this area since the Paleo¬ 
zoic era than has occurred in the Ray and Globe mining districts. 
The limestone and quartzite of the youngest group are not’ much if 
any more metamorphosed than similar rocks of Paleozoic age at Ray 
and Globe and may well be of similar age. 

TERTIARY LAVAS. 

Lavas occur throughout the lower Gila region and extend far 
beyond its limits. The series consists of a number of superimposed 
flows of varying thickness, with widely different superficial charac¬ 
teristics, associated with some tuff and agglomerate and a very sub¬ 
ordinate amount of sedimentary rock. It reaches its maximum de¬ 
velopment in the S. H. Mountains, where the total thickness is cer¬ 
tainly more than 2,000 feet. A number of the individual flows are 
several hundred feet thick. 

Volcanic rocks similar in occurrence and general characteristics to 
rocks of this series have been reported from a number of localities 
in the Southwest. 

These rocks have all been referred to the Tertiary, and most of 
them are supposed to be Miocene. This supposition is based princi¬ 
pally on their field relations to rocks of known age, the paleonto- 
logic evidence within the series themselves being scanty or altogether 
lacking. 

Overlying the Tertiary beds and associated with the unconsoli¬ 
dated or partly consolidated Quaternary sand and gravel are basalt 
flows of early Quaternary age. These are described under Qua¬ 
ternary formations (p. 27). The faulted and uplifted basalts 
that cap many of the mountains, however, are considered to be 
Tertiary. 

The amount of sedimentary material associated with the Tertiary 
lavas is small compared to the total thickness of these lavas. The 
sedimentary rocks are of geologic importance, however, for they fur¬ 
nish clues as to the conditions existing at the time these great flows 
were poured out. They comprise sandstone, in part arkosic, shale, 
and calcareous beds. 

The Tertiary lavas are almost as widely distributed in this region 
as the metamorphic complex just described. They were found in 
every mountain range examined during this investigation except the 


22 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Harquahala and Little Harquahala mountains. Some of the ranges, 
such as the S. H., Eagletail, and Castle Dome mountains, are com¬ 
posed exclusively of rocks of this series resting on a metamorphic 
basement, which is visible in only a few small areas. 

The lavas are for the most part light-colored acidic rocks, but some 
are basalts. They display a wide range and variety of coloration, 
which is particularly striking in the Eagletail Mountains. In that 
range a thickness of over 1,000 feet of nearly horizontal lava flows 
with interbedded tuff is exposed. The flows and tuffs are cut by 
pipes, dikes, and sills of felsitic igneous rock. Nearly every flow is 
different in color from those above and below it, and each stands 
out from the others with clean-cut boundaries. Among the colors 
are brilliant yellow, soft green, vivid red, somber brown and dun, 
and creamy white, with streaks of purple, heliotrope, and other 
shades. The petrographer who is interested in Tertiary igneous 
rocks would find much to study here and in the other ranges in this 
region where similar rocks occur. 

The basalts appear in most places to be the youngest of the flows, 
for they cap the others and form the summits of the mountains. 
Everywhere in the region the Tertiary basalts are subordinate in 
amount to the acidic lavas. Thicknesses of 300 feet of basalt are 
rare, but 1,000 feet or more of acidic lava occurs at numerous places. 
The Tertiary basalts are best developed in the Gila Bend Moun¬ 
tains north of Point of Rocks. 

Interbedded with the acidic flows are beds of siliceous agglom¬ 
erate and of rhyolitic tuff. The tuff is white or cream-colored and 
forms conspicuous beds, which are in places scores of feet thick. 
It is widely distributed throughout the region. The flows and tuffs 
are cut by pipes, dikes, and sills of felsitic igneous rock. 

Bancroft 6 considered all the basalt in this part of Arizona to be 
Quaternary. Basalts occur on the summits of a number of moun¬ 
tains in the region. The erosion that has occurred since these ba¬ 
salts were poured out is measured in thousands of feet, so that if 
they are Pleistocene, some of the most imposing mountain ranges 
in the region have been produced in large part at least during later 
Pleistocene or Recent time. At Point of Rocks, on Gila River in 
western Maricopa County, basalt flows capping unconsolidated 
gravel of the valley abut against the eroded edges of lava moun¬ 
tains. Hence the basalt flows that cap these mountains must be 
older than the lava in the valley. As the valley lava caps uncon¬ 
solidated gravel it is clearly Quaternary, and it is so much dissected 
by erosion and so much weathered as to show that it is early 

B Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, pp. 32-33, 1911. 




GEOLOGY. 


23 


Pleistocene. From these facts it is evident that the older basalts 
that cap the mountains belong to the Tertiary series. It is, however, 
very difficult or impossible to determine to which age many of the 
flows belong. 

TERTIARY SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS. 

Limestone and calcareous conglomerate occur in at least three 
widely separated localities in this region. Further work would 
probably disclose many other outcrops. The known localities are 
Osborne Wash, in the vicinity of Osborne Well, near Parker; Saddle 
Mountain; and the Clanton Hills and the valley north of them. 
Sandstone was found in Antelope Hill, in many places in the Gila 
Bend Mountains, near Osborne Well, and in the Clanton Hills. 
Shale is associated with some of the sandstone in the Gila Bend 
Mountains. 

Antelope Hill, at the south end of the concrete bridge across Gila 
River east of Wellton, is composed of grayish arkose, a sandstone 
formed from granitic debris. The rock is, as a whole, somewhat 
coarser grained near the base of the hill than farther up the slope. 
The average diameter of the grains ranges from 1 to 6 millimeters. 
The beds have a very gentle southerly dip. The hill is about 580 
feet high, so that fully 500 feet of sandstone is exposed. Related 
but coarser sandstone and conglomerate occur farther to the south. 6 

Red sandstone crops out in several places in the Gila Bend Moun¬ 
tains, notably at and near Woolsey Tank. Near the Dixie mine, in 
the Gila Bend Mountains, red and purplish shale is associated with 
the sandstone. 

The relations of these sedimentary rocks to the Tertiary lavas show 
clearly that they are of similar age. Like the lavas, they have been 
disturbed by post-Tertiary faulting so that the beds now dip in vari¬ 
ous directions. The Clanton Hills, about 25 miles north of Palomas, 
consist almost exclusively of flat-lying gray cherty fine-grained lime¬ 
stone with numerous concretions, some of which resemble fossils in 
superficial appearance. Some of the beds contain small and indis¬ 
tinct fossils of probable Tertiary age. At the west end of the hills 
is exposed a bed of reddish sandstone composed of quartz grains 
in a calcareous cement, about 30 feet thick. In the limestone there 
are some faults along which the rock has been considerably brecci- 
ated. Subsequent to the faulting hot solutions circulated through 
the fault breccias, as is shown by iron stains and by marked silicifi- 
cation of the limestone fragments. No definite evidence of valuable 
mineralization was found. 

Near Osborne Well are considerable exposures of sedimentary 
rocks. Time did not permit a detailed examination of these ex- 

« Bryan, Kirk, Erosion and sedimentation in the Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 730, p. 26, 1922. 




24 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


posures, but the scattered observations made may be of interest. 
To the west and south of the well are hills with cliffs cut by the 
large wash that passes between them. In these cliffs are exposures 
of well-bedded conglomerate with a calcareous matrix, capped by a 
basalt flow. The pebbles in the calcareous rock are in no place 
very abundant, and the lower portion contains none. Farther north 
up this wash are outcrops of red sandstone with concretions, a minor 
amount of quartz sandstone, and a few small beds of conglomerate. 
A short distance still farther north red vesicular basaltic or andesitic 
lava is interbedded with the red sandstone. 

Exposures of sedimentary rock are found for about 8 miles west 
of Osborne Well along the road to Parker. There are numerous 
outcrops of thin-bedded limestone that is similar in appearance to 
the matrix of the conglomerate at the well but is entirely free from 
any but very small pebbles. Several of these outcrops are capped 
with vesicular olivine basalt. They contain rather numerous small 
and indistinct fossils similar to those found in the Clanton Hills and 
a few small angular fragments of quartz and feldspar. Blanchard 7 
considers these calcareous beds to be tuffaceous. 

Interbedded with the lavas of Saddle Mountain, in Maricopa 
County, are considerable thicknesses of fragmental rocks ranging 
from agglomerate and breccia of distinctly igneous character to rocks 
that have angular fragments of lava about an inch in diameter in a 
white calcareous matrix. 

QUATERNARY SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS. 

The unconsolidated and poorly consolidated gravel, sand, and silt 
that fill the valleys and floor the flood plains of the rivers in this 
region are of Quaternary age. Basalts that are clearly also Quater¬ 
nary are interbedded with or rest upon these sediments. 

The valleys throughout this area, like nearly all the desert val¬ 
leys of the Southwest, are deeply filled with detrital material, most of 
it unconsolidated or poorly consolidated, derived from the mountains. 
The thickness of this material in the valleys has not been determined. 
It is certainly to be measured in hundreds if not in thousands of 
feet, as is indicated by well records in a number of the valleys. 

The character of the valley fill varies greatly, as is to be ex¬ 
pected in sediments laid down by generally short and usually dis¬ 
connected streams under arid conditions. In the flood plains of 
Gila and Colorado rivers and in certain clay flats or playas in in¬ 
terior valleys there are very fine silts or clays, but the major portion 
of the fill in the valleys is sand and gravel, commonly very coarse. 
Much of it is poorly assorted, consisting of coarse sediments in a 

7 Blanchard, R. C., The geology of the western Buckskin Mountains, Yuma County, 
Ariz.: Columbia Univ. Contrib. Geol. Dept., vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 24-26, 1913. 




* GEOLOGY. 


25 


clayey matrix. The surface layers in most of the valleys contain 
silty soil more or less mixed with gravel. This soil where it has 
been properly irrigated has proved to be highly productive. In 
Castle Dome Plain, Palomas Plain, and to a less general extent in 
a number of the other valleys in the area, the surface silt has been 
removed by the wind, leaving a residual floor of gravel. Sand 
dunes are common in Cactus Plain and also occur in Eagletail 
Valley. 

In almost all the fill that is indurated to any extent the cement 
is a calcareous material called “ caliche,” “ cement,” or “ hardpan.” 
Lee 8 has described the mode of occurrence of caliche and discussed 
the theories as to its origin. He concludes that the caliche in the 
Salt River valley, which is essentially similar to that in the lower 
Gila region, has been formed in part by the deposition of carbonates 
and other salts held in solution in the ground water, and in part by 
the evaporation of water percolating downward from the surface. 
On the old road across the Gila Bend Mountains, west of Woolsey 
Tank, are gravel beds with a calcareous cement which has set so 
firmly as to form a hard though friable rock. These are exception¬ 
ally indurated, but beds of caliche so hard that it is very difficult 
to penetrate with pick and shovel are common in a number of places 
in the region. Such beds are known elsewhere in the Gila Bend 
Mountains, Nottbusch Valley, Castle Dome Plain, and other locali¬ 
ties. Wells sunk in La Posa Plain and McMullen Valley usually 
penetrate beds of caliche below unconsolidated gravel and sand. 
On the flanks of the Plomosa Mountains, on the east side of La Posa 
Plain, are thick deposits of gravel cemented with caliche, some of 
which is auriferous. 9 On the flanks of the Dome Rock Mountains, 
west of this plain, are similar deposits. 

Beds of green and yellow banded clay are exposed in the terraces 
of the Colorado in the Colorado River Indian Reservation near 
Parker. Fossil fresh-water shells have been found in some of these 
beds. E. L. Jones, 10 who made an examination of the reservation 
for the United States Geological Survey in 1914, states that these 
are lake beds. 

Along washes within the mountains and on the borders of the 
ranges are beds of gravel and sand similar to those of the valley 
fill. These beds are cut by the present washes. Although they are 
clearly similar to the material in the modern stream ways and 
were deposited under conditions very similar to those existing 
to-day, the position of many of these beds indicates that they were 

8 Lee, W. T., Underground waters of Salt River valley, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water- 
Supply Taper 136, pp. 107-111, 1905. 

» Bancroft, Howland, A reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, p. 88, 1911. 

10 Personal communication. 




26 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


laid down in streams whose courses had little or no relation to those 
of the present streams. All this gravel and sand is somewhat con¬ 
solidated. In the wash that parallels the new road where it emerges 
from the Gila Bend Mountains on the west side the unconsolidated 
or slightly consolidated gravel of the valley fill can be seen lapping 
up on the gently inclined and smooth surface of gravel having a 
calcareous cement. The cemented gravel is continuous with gravel 
of the same type in the mountains just described. Similar ex¬ 
posures were noted near the road between Wen den and Butler Well 
on the north side of Cunningham Pass, in the Harcuvar Mountains. 
Outcrops of gravel of similar appearance, which are being eroded 
by the present streams, were noted in Osborne Wash, north of 
Osborne Well, in the Buckskin Mountains. 

The partly consolidated detrital beds in the mountains are in 
places cut by normal faults and tilted to angles of 20° and even 
more. The best exposures found are in the Gila Bend Mountains. 
Tilted blocks of gravel were noted near both of the roads that cross 
this range, but they are especially well exposed along the portion 
of the old road that lies in the mountains. Outcrops of such ma¬ 
terial were also found along the large wash followed by the old road 
on the west side of the mountains. Slight folding in gravel beds 
was observed in some outcrops near Woolsey Tank along this road. 
Tilted beds of gravel and sand are exposed at the north end of the 
Gila Mountains, near Dome. Some of the more consolidated 
alluvium in the Dome Bock and Buckskin mountains is probably 
tilted. Beds of gravel and sand that have been disturbed by earth 
movements doubtless exist elsewhere in the region but were not 
noted during this investigation. 

It is evident that Quaternary sediments belonging to at least three 
periods of deposition occur in this region. These are (1) the some¬ 
what consolidated beds exposed in and near the mountains, which 
have been disturbed by faulting; (2) the unconsolidated or only lo¬ 
cally consolidated flat-lying valley fill; and (3) the recently de¬ 
posited material in the washes and playas of the desert valleys and 
the flood plains of the larger streams. This conclusion is in accord 
with the results of Lee’s work in adjoining areas and in parts of the 
region here considered. 11 He has given formational names to the two 
older divisions of the Quaternary formations in the vicinity of Colo¬ 
rado Kiver. The oldest group of gravels and sands he calls Temple 
Bar conglomerate. The unconsolidated material resting upon the 
Temple Bar conglomerate and exposed in terraced bluffs along Colo¬ 
rado Biver and elsewhere he calls Chemehuevis gravel. He gives no 

11 Lee, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Bull. 352, pp. 17-18, 1908; Underground waters of the Salt River valley, Ariz.: U. S. 
Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 136, pp. 111-114, 1905. 



GEOLOGY. 


27 


specific name to the recent material that floors the river flood plains. 
The Temple Bar conglomerate is lithologically similar to the oldest 
of the three groups of Quaternary formations herein described, but 
the thicknesses reported by Lee along the upper Colorado are far 
greater than any found in this region. The two may perhaps be of 
similar age and history. The Gila conglomerate, described by Gil¬ 
bert, 12 is similar to the Temple Bar, being a thick formation of coarse 
alluvium in the upper Gila Valley. The correlation of these forma¬ 
tions awaits the complete unraveling of the physiographic history of 
southwestern Arizona in Quaternary time. 

QUATERNARY BASALT. 

Associated with the gravel and sand of the valley fill in places 
in this region are flows of olivine basalt. Such rock caps the fill, 
is interbedded with it, and also cuts it in the form of dikes and 
intrusive masses, generally small and irregular. The basalt masses 
that rise above the present surface of the fill have produced land 
forms of two general types—flat mesas formed by flows that have 
spread out over the surface of the fill, as at Point of Bocks and Gil¬ 
lespie dam, both along Gila Biver, and groups of low, in places 
more or less conical hills, of which the Bouse Hills, near Bouse, 
and the Palo Verde Hills, northwest of Arlington, may be mentioned 
as examples. The mesas consist of flows 100 feet thick or less, with 
a few thicker ones. Few of the hills are over 200 or 300 feet high, 
and many are less than this. The conical shape of many of these 
hills suggests that they are volcanic cones, but all are dissected by 
erosion, and in none of them was a definite crater found. All 
the basalt masses, in both mesas and hills, are dissected 
by erosion and have a weathered appearance. The basalt in this 
area is not nearly as fresh in appearance as much of that in Cali¬ 
fornia described by Darton. 13 The relation of the basalt to the val¬ 
ley fill proves it to be Quaternary, but it is probably not younger 
than early Pleistocene. 

STRUCTURE. 

Normal faults are the most conspicuous structural features of the 
rocks of this region. Thrust faults have not been found, and folding 
appears to have been of minor intensity since early pre-Cambrian 
time. There appear to have been three general periods of faulting— 
one before and one after the outpouring of the Tertiary lava and 
a third after the deposition of the older Quaternary alluvium. The 

Gilbert, G. K., U. S. Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Rept., vol. 3, pt. 5, pp. 540^541, 

1875. 

18 Darton, N. H., and others, Guidebook of the western United States, Part C, The Santa 
Fe Route: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 613, pp. 154-155, 1915. 



28 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


faults of these three periods of movement can not be sharply differ¬ 
entiated—indeed, it is probable that some movement along fault 
planes has been in progress almost continuously from the beginning 
of pre- Tertiary faulting to the present day. A few of the mountain 
ranges in the region show no evidence of being faulted, either because 
they had a different origin or because erosion has entirely removed 
the evidence. 

GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 

EARLY PRE-CAMBRIAN TIME. 

The remnants of the oldest pre-Cambrian rocks in this region are so 
few, so scattered, and so intensely metamorphosed that almost 
nothing can be learned from them as to the events of that ancient 
time. These rocks comprise the micaceous and chloritic schist, quartz- 
itic schist, and metamorphosed limestone found included in gneiss 
in the Buckskin and Gila Bend mountains. Some of them have the 
appearance of highly altered sediments, but that such is their nature 
is by no means certain. The large amount of chlorite in some of the 
schists suggests an igneous origin, but nothing more definite is known 
regarding them. The record shows only that in early pre-Cambrian 
time certain rocks, principally of sedimentary origin but perhaps also 
in part of igneous origin, were formed here. These rocks were buried, 
metamorphosed, and finally intruded by batholithic masses of gran¬ 
ite and kindred rocks. The period of intrusion was followed by a 
very long period of erosion. Nearly all the ancient schists were re¬ 
moved and the granitic rock was exposed. Meanwhile the granites 
had been rendered gneissoid, and the blocks of other rocks included 
in them had suffered intense dynamic metamorphism. 

LATE PRE-CAMBRIAN TIME. 

The next event recorded was sinking of the land and influx of the 
sea. A thick series of sandstone and limestone with some mudstone 
was laid down in this sea. 

Various dikes, principally of diabase and pegmatite, are asso¬ 
ciated with the metamorphic formations. Some of them are to be 
correlated with the ancient batholithic intrusions and are older than 
the pre-Cambrian sedimentary rocks. The field work was not suffi¬ 
ciently detailed to make it possible to differentiate these rocks. 
In the northern part of the region Bancroft found evidence indicat¬ 
ing that volcanism occurred during the period of marine sedimenta¬ 
tion. 


PALEOZOIC AND MESOZOIC TIME. 

No sediments of known Paleozoic or Mesozoic age occur in the 
region. Limestone and quartzite that may be Paleozoic are found in 


GEOLOGY. 


29 


the Harquahala Mountains and elsewhere. (See pp. 20-21.) These 
beds represent either sedimentation near the end of pre-Cambrian 
time or a continuation of marine sedimentation in the Paleozoic, 
but the evidence at hand is not sufficient to determine which. If 
any other Paleozoic or Mesozoic sediments were ever deposited in 
this region they have since been almost or entirely removed by ero¬ 
sion. It is possible that small amounts of such rocks occur in those 
parts of the region that were not visited during the investigation. 
Enough is known, however, to warrant the statement that no large 
areas of such rocks are present anywhere in the lower Gila region. 

The region was again uplifted at some time after the period of 
marine conditions recorded by the pre-Cambrian sediments. Ero¬ 
sion was resumed and was long continued. If the marine sediments 
covered the whole of the area at the end of pre-Cambrian time, they 
were completely removed over large areas and the gneiss was once 
more laid bare. There is abundant evidence, however, that the 
surface over which the Tertiary lavas flowed was by no means a 
plain. The country was rolling and hilly. Some of the small 
mountain ranges of to-day existed then, although they were proba¬ 
bly not as high or as rugged as they are now. 

Granitic stocks or small batholiths accompanied or immediately 
followed by dikes of various types were intruded into the rocks 
of this region at some period after the pre-Cambrian and before the 
Tertiary. The writers who have previously described such rocks 
consider them to be Mesozoic. This correlation seems to be proba¬ 
ble and entirely in accord with the facts so far as they are known. 
Rocks of this type have been reported from the Dome Rock 
Mountains, 14 S. H. Mountains, 15 and Harcuvar Mountains 16 and 
were also noted during the present investigation in the Buckskin 
Mountains. A number of similar intrustions are known in adjoin¬ 
ing regions. 

The pre-Cambrian rocks were considerably metamorphosed during 
the period between their deposition and that of the Tertiary lavas. 
The metamorphism probably took place in pre-Cambrian time, for 
Paleozoic rocks in adjoining regions show no evidence of having 
been affected by it. There has been no close folding since the de¬ 
position of the later pre-Cambrian rocks. Thick masses of such 
rocks now exposed show no folding and little tilting. Faulting took 
place during some period prior to the eruption of the Tertiary lavas, 
and it is believed probable that the major areas of uplift which 

14 Jones, E. L., Gold deposits near Quartzsite, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 620, p. 
48, 1916. 

18 Jones, E. L., A reconnaissance in the Kofa Mountains, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Bull. 620, p. 155, 1916. 

18 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, pp. 29-30, 1911. 



30 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


form the present mountains may have been then blocked out, at least 
in part. 

TERTIARY TIME. 

The Tertiary was a period of pronounced volcanism. Great sheets 
of lava were piled up in flow upon flow. Agglomerate and tuff 
are associated with the lavas, but in very subordinate amount. Quiet 
outflows rather than eruptions of explosive violence were the rule. 
Bancroft 17 states that volcanic plugs are present in several places 
in the area in northern Yuma County which he examined and are 
apparently more numerous near the lower portion of Williams River 
than elsewhere. These plugs may represent remnants of Tertiary 
volcanoes. Plugs of latitic rock occur near Saddle Mountain, west 
of Quartzsite in the Dome Rock Mountains, and elsewhere in the 
region covered by this report, but such remnants of Tertiary vol¬ 
canoes are rare. Quite possibly most of the eruptions were of the 
fissure type, and there were no volcanoes, except a few small ones. 
Probably lava flowed over much of this region during the Tertiary 
period, covering most of the hills then existing. Apparently, how¬ 
ever, some ranges were never capped completely by the lava. The 
Harquahala, Little Harquahala, and Harcuvar mountains belong to 
this class. Portions of the Buckskin Mountains and of some of the 
other ranges may also have escaped being covered. Felsitic Tertiary 
intrusives and possibly some lavas occur in the Dome Rock Moun¬ 
tains, but this range is built almost exclusively of rocks of the basal 
complex. If the range was ever lava-capped, all the lava has since 
been removed by erosion. Comparatively little is known in regard 
to the geology of the Laguna, Trigo, and Chocolate mountains, but 
possibly portions of these ranges escaped the general flooding of the 
region by the sheets of lava. Probably there was more than one 
period of extrusion. Much more detailed work is required to de¬ 
termine this point. 

The amount of sedimentary rock of Tertiary age in this region 
is small indeed compared to the many hundreds of feet of lavas. Un¬ 
questionably volcanism, not sedimentation, was the dominant feature 
of the Tertiary period. Much of the sedimentary rock is very 
probably of terrestrial origin and was deposited under conditions 
not very different from those of the present. This fact is better 
shown in the exposures of Tertiary formations south of Gila River, 
where stream-laid conglomerates occur. 18 

The calcareous sediments found in several places within this 
region and in adjoining parts of California tell a very different story. 

17 Bancroft, Howland, op. cit., pp. 30-31. 

18 Bryan, Kirk, Erosion and sedimentation in the Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 730, p. 26, 1922. 



GEOLOGY. 


31 


(See pp. 23-24.) These were unquestionably laid down in large 
bodies of quiet water and are lacustrine or estuarine. A glance at 
the map will show that the exposures of these deposits are scattered 
over an area of approximately 2,000 square miles. Only one of them, 
that near Osborne Well, is in an area covered by an accurate topo¬ 
graphic map, hence the exact altitude of the others is not known. 
The best estimates available, however, show that all the exposures, 
including those in California, are at altitudes of approximately 700 
feet above sea level. Unfortunately, the paleontologic evidence avail¬ 
able is not conclusive as regards the character of the waters in which 
these beds were deposited. It is possible that they were formed in 
lakes lying between the mountain ranges. Much more probably, 
however, they were deposited in an estuary, or estuaries, extending 
north from the Gulf of California. In late Miocene or Pliocene 
Pme the gulf extended much farther north than at present, flooding- 
southern California in the region of the Salton Basin. 19 Possibly 
the calcareous beds in the lower Gila region mark the northern limit 
of this incursion of marine waters. 

Much normal faulting occurred in the Tertiary period, some of it 
on a large scale. Probably there was more than one period of fault¬ 
ing, and possibly a number of such periods. The faulting resulted 
in the formation of structural valleys between the upthrown blocks. 
Folding either did not occur or was of very minor intensity. 

QUATERNARY TIME. 

The record of Quaternary events in this region is more detailed 
and complete than that of the events of older geologic periods. 
However, there is much that is still uncertain or entirely unknown 
regarding the Quaternary history. One of the greatest difficulties 
encountered in interpreting the record is that of differentiating 
between the older and younger valley fill, which show a very close 
lithologic similarity. 

Some uncertainty exists as to the division between Tertiary and 
Quaternary time in this region. Lee 20 believes that the uplift that 
initiated the cutting of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado marks 
the beginning of the Quaternary period. This uplift was very 
probably essentially contemporaneous with that which resulted in 
the deep cutting of the desert valleys. However, Lee elsewhere 21 
makes the sugestion that the lower portion of the fill in the Salt 

19 Kew, W. S. W., Tertiary echinoids of the Carrizo Creek region in the Colorado 
Desert: California Univ. Dept. Geology Bull., vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 39-60, 3914. 

"Lee, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Bull. 352, pp. 62-63, 1908. 

»Lee, W. T., Underground waters of Salt River valley, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 136, p. 114, 1905. 




32 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


River valley, which he considers may be lacustrine in origin and 
notably older than the detrital material above it, is of Tertiary age. 
This suggestion is strengthened by the discovery by Bryan and Gid- 
ley 22 of Pliocene vertebrate fossils in alluvial deposits in San Pedro 
Valley. Deep-well records show that there is a considerable thick¬ 
ness of clav or other fine material beneath the coarser detritus in the 
Salt River valley. Records of wells in Buckeye and Arlington val¬ 
leys and at Gila Bend show that similar conditions exist there also. 
Considerable clay was encountered in several of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad wells on Gila River west of Gila Bend. Fossil or 
other evidence may eventually be found which will prove that these 
deposits and the partly consolidated alluvium that crops out in 
places are of Tertiary age. The recently found evidence in San 
Pedro Valley makes this seem probable. Because of the advantage 
of having a definite and easily recognized datum, the deep cutting 
of the valleys, originally in large part of structural origin, is as¬ 
sumed in this report to be the opening event of Quaternary time in 
this region. Any sediments, whatever their origin, lying in these 
valleys, would then be of Quaternary age. As the valley cutting fol¬ 
lowed a structural disturbance of some magnitude, it is, in the 
absence of fossil evidence, a logical event to assign for the beginning 
of a geologic period. 

After the valley cutting conditions were so altered that the streams 
began to aggrade and the recently excavated valleys were filled to 
great depths with detrital material. Basalt flows, the continuation 
of the basaltic effusions at the end of the Tertiary, occurred at this 
time. As has already been stated, volcanism did not continue to as 
recent time in this region as it did in some other portions of the 
Southwest, notably southern California, but it continued intermit¬ 
tently to a time considerably later than that in which the first valley 
fill was deposited. 

When the vallej^ had been very largely filled with detritus re¬ 
newed uplift occurred. In places the recently deposited sediments 
were faulted and somewhat folded. Degradation recommenced, and 
much of the material with which the valleys had just been filled was 
swept out of them again. 

Before all of the first valley fill had been removed, aggradation 
was resumed and the younger fill was deposited. Some volcanism 
appears to have occurred during this epoch, but it was much less 
pronounced than that of the time just preceding it. Near Bouse, 
Yuma County, volcanic ash occurs in the fill not far from the 
present surface. This is probably comparatively recent. Several of 
the lava flows may be of corresponding age. 

22 Gidley, J. W., Preliminary report on fossil vertebrates of the San Pedro Valley, 
Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 131, pp. 120-121, 1022. 



GROUND WATER. 


33 


In comparatively recent time erosion of the younger fill has com¬ 
menced, as is shown by terraces cut in it. The present flood plains 
of the streams lie between the lowest of these terraces. Along both 
Colorado and Gila rivers other terraces can be discerned above 
these, but they are discontinuous and apparently of small significance. 

At the present time both rivers are aggrading in their lower 
courses. The channels are gradually being filled by the deposition 
of fine silts. Both rivers carry large quantities of silt during floods 
and are remarkably muddy at all times. 

GROUND WATER. 

GROUND WATER IN ROCK. 

Within the lower Gila region ground water occurs almost exclu¬ 
sively in the valley fill. Some shallow wells in or near mountains 
obtain water from Tertiary lavas and sediments, but the yield of all 
such wells is too small to be used for irrigation on any but a very 
small scale. The water is, however, generally of good quality, so 
that such wells may constitute important sources of supply where 
large quantities of water are not required. The Webb Well, in the 
Gila Bend Mountains, is a good example of such a well. (See p. 226.) 

It is unlikely that artesian flows of any magnitude can be developed 
from any of the consolidated formations in this region. In only a 
few places are these formations sufficiently porous to be good 
aquifers, and as they are apparently not continuous or uniform over 
large areas, the sources from which they can obtain water are neces¬ 
sarily small. The prevalence of normal faulting and the lack of 
folding militates strongly against the occurrence of structure favor¬ 
able to any considerable artesian flow. 

GROUND WATER IN VALLEY FILL. 

Large amounts of water can, on the other hand, be obtained from 
wells in vallev fill in several localities. A number of wells used for 
irrigation in Buckeye Valley have yields of 200 gallons a minute, 
more or less. Some land along Gila River west of Buckeye Valley 
is now being irrigated from wells. These wells are shallow and do 
not have very large yields, but doubtless better and more reliable 
supplies could be obtained by sinking deeper. Some of the wells in 
the northern part of the region, particularly at Parker, yield enough 
to be considered possible sources of water for irrigation. (See 
pp. 115-117.) In every valley that has been prospected for ground 
water some has been found. No wells have been sunk, so far as 
known, in Castle Dome Plain or in Cactus Plain except at Parker. 
Some of the smaller valleys have also not been prospected. There is 


34 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


every reason to suppose that water would be found in the fill in 
these areas also. In most of the valleys at a distance from Colo¬ 
rado and Gila rivers the water table is so far below the surface and 
the yield is so small that it is doubtful if irrigation on a large scale 
will ever be practicable. Enough water for watering stock and for 
small amounts of irrigation can be developed in nearly or quite all 
the valleys and plains. In Harrisburg Valley and at Bouse and 
Quartzsite the ground water lies at comparatively shallow depths. 
If, as is entirely possible, considerable amounts of water of sufficiently 
good quality can be developed in these three localities, irrigation may 
prove successful there. 

The analyses of water from wells in several localities in the region 
are not very encouraging. In few wells can the water be said to be 
really good. The average amount of total solids in the 26 analyses 
made in the laboratory of the Geological Survey is over 1,000 parts 
per million. However, only a few of the analyses indicate that the 
water can not be successfully used if other conditions are favorable 
and care and skill are used in irrigating with it. Water of suffi¬ 
ciently good quality to be used for irrigation can certainly be found 
in McMullen Valley, near Parker, in Buckeye Valley, and probably 
in a large number of other localities in the region. 

The water in the valley fill is the accumulation of the rain that 
falls on its surface and the run-off from the neighboring mountains. 
As practically all the valleys are open, the ground water drains 
slowly out of them in the direction of one or the other of the two 
through-flowing rivers, instead of being held and stored up as it 
would be in inclosed basins. This fact and the large excess of evapo¬ 
ration over rainfall in the region explain why large quantities of 
water are not found in the interior valleys. The fill in the valleys 
of Gila and Colorado rivers receives supplies of water not only from 
the area immediately bordering the streams in this region, but also 
from the much better watered upper portions of these valleys. Hence 
much larger quantities of ground water are to be expected from the 
fill in these valleys. 

The fill in the interior valleys does not appear to be a promising 
source of artesian water. It consists of beds that are poorly sorted 
and too discontinuous to afford favorable artesian structure. More¬ 
over, the mountain ranges are too small and have too little rainfall 
and too much evaporation to supply any large quantities of water to 
the valley fill. Only a small part of the rain that falls on the 
mountains probably finds/its way into the valley fill. It is possible 
that artesian conditions may exist in favorable localities in the val- 
leys of Gila and Colorado rivers, although no indications of such 
conditions are known in the lower Gila region. 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 35 

TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 

By Kirk Bryan . 23 

The problem of finding water for man and beast increases in 
difficulty with the aridity of a region. In southwestern Arizona 
and southeastern California aridity reaches its climax in the con¬ 
tinental area of the United States. Consequently water supplies 
that in more humid regions would be wholly or almost wholly 
neglected are here of great importance. In the following pages 
is presented a study of the characteristics of watering places due 
to rainfall and its direct run-off, in contradistinction to wells, which 
are dependent on the circulation of water in the ground. The 
examples cited are drawn in part from the lower Gila region and 
in part from the Papago country, which lies south of Gila River. 
A report on the Pagago country now in preparation will contain 
a somewhat fuller discussion of many of the watering places here 
mentioned. The two regions have in common the same marked 
aridity and a similar geologic structure and history. Their water¬ 
ing places are therefore similar in kind and of equal importance 
to the scant population and the traveling public. Travel proceeds 
from watering place to watering place, settlements are established 
at or near water, and consequently even the maps reflect the im¬ 
portance of water supply. Woolsey Tank, Deep Well, and Winter’s 
Wells axe significant American place names; and Agua Caliente 
(hot water) and Agua Fria (cold water) record the travel and 
settlement of the Spaniards. South of Gila River Cubo, Tonukvo, 
and Moivavi are watering places and Indian villages whose equival¬ 
ent names in English would be Big Pond, Ridge Pond, and Many 
Wells. 

STREAMS AS WATERING PLACES. 

Streams vary in importance as sources of water supply according 
to their size and habits. In southwestern Arizona there are no large, 
permanent streams except Colorado River, along its western border. 
All the other streams are intermittent, interrupted, or ephemeral. 

INTERMITTENT AND INTERRUPTED STREAMS. 

Intermittent streams flow for a part of the year, usually for a 
month or more. This period of flow is fairly definite in its time and 

23 This section, originally written as part of a paper by Kirk Bryan, entitled “ The 
Papago country: a geographic, geologic, and hydrologic reconnaissance ” (in prepara¬ 
tion), has been adapted for use in this report by Clyde P. Ross. Data on streams in 
the lower Gila region have been added, examples of tanks and other features from that 
region have been given, and most of the examples from the Papago country have been 
omitted. 

49417—23-4 




36 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


usually comes in the spring, after winter rains or the melting of 
snow, or follows the summer rains. No very large streams of this 
character can originate in such a region as southwestern Arizona. 
They commonly have their headwaters either in humid regions or in 
large areas of mountainous country, which are not found within this 
portion of the arid belt. Such a stream is Gila River, which rises in 
the rugged and wooded Mogollon Mountains of western New Mexico. 
The muddy floods of this river have been a constant temptation to the 
agricultural speculator from the days of the primitive Pimas 
throughout the period of settlement by the whites. At times these 
floods attain considerable proportions. A run-off of probably 185,000 
second-feet in one flood has been recorded on the Gila at Yuma. 24 
The average annual run-off at the same place is 2,750,000 acre-feet. 

Many intermittent streams are also interrupted—that is, they have 
a permanent flow over short stretches of their courses throughout the 
year. It is this characteristic of Gila River which has made its valley 
the best practicable route from the Rocky Mountains to California 
across the southern desert regions. Throughout its length are 
stretches which have perennial water, and along these stretches there 
has been more or less permanent settlement and irrigation by the In¬ 
dians and later by the whites. 

Similarly, Santa Cruz River, which rises in the relatively high 
mountainous area east of Nogales, is a more or less continuous water¬ 
ing place from the international boundary northward to Tucson. 
Throughout this portion of the valley irrigation was practiced by the 
aboriginal Sobaipuri, and perhaps also by Papagos. North of Tucson 
there is no permanent watering place on the Santa Cruz much above 
its junction with the Gila, but throughout this territory a certain 
amount of flood-water irrigation has always been carried on. In 
other words, this interrupted stream through the upper part of its 
course has a small permanent flow, but in the lower part it is wholly 
intermittent. 

The only intermittent streams in the lower Gila region are Gila 
River, already mentioned, and Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers, 
which have their sources within the region. They are also inter¬ 
rupted and near their sources are perennial. Water can be found 
in pools and reaches in the channel of Gila River near its junction 
with Colorado River, at Antelope Bridge, near Aztec, at Gillespie 
dam, and at numerous other places. Even where little or no water 
remains above ground in the channel it can frequently be obtained 
by digging a short distance into the sand. The river water should 
uot be used for human consumption except in an emergency. If the 

24 Cory, H. T., The Imperial Valley and the Salton Sink. p. 1200, San Francisco, John J. 
Newbegin, 1915. 



TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


37 


water is drawn from a hole dug 2 feet or so into the sand instead of 
being dipped directly from the river or pool, it can be used with 
little danger, especially if it is boiled. 

Hassayampa and Agua Fria rivers are much smaller than the Gila. 
The Hassayampa has little or no perennial water in its channel. 
The excess water from the Buckeye project drains into it near Palo 
Verde, so that the lower portion of its channel contains water a 
large part of the year. Agua Fria River is a somewhat larger 
stream and may have water at the surface in some localities during 
most or all of the year. A table showing the available data on the 
discharge of Hassayampa and Agua Fria rivers in the upper por¬ 
tions of their courses is appended. Data on the discharge of the 
Gila at the stations in the lower Gila region are given on page 107. 


Monthly discharge of Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers. 


Agua Fria River near Glendale.® 


Month. 

Discharge in second-feet. 

Run-oil in 

Maximum. 

Minimum. 

Mean. 

acre-feet. 

October, 1914 . 

725 

2 

43.0 

2,640 

November. 

16 

3 

7.3 

434 

December. 

January, 1915. 

800 

6 

164 

2,470 

870 

10,080 

152,000 

48,300 

February... 

3,320 

20 

March.. 

420 

70 

148 

9,130 

April. 

158 

22 

41.3 

2,460 


1,050 

11 

161 

9,900 


18 

8 

9.9 

589 

J»lv. 

1,300 

8 

88.5 

5,440 

.August. 

480 

37 

104 

6,410 

September. 

t 

600 

4 

40.8 

2,430 

The year. 


2 

345 

250,000 


Hassayampa River at Walnut Grove.& 


November 21-30,1912 

December. 

January, 1913. 

February. 

March...'. 

April. 

M ay. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

October. 

\ovember. 

December. 

January, 1914. 

February. 

March. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

The year. 


1.2 

3.8 

1.0 

22 

29 

29 

2.0 

.0 

13 

SG 

235 

1.0 

.9 

0.5 

1.0 

1.0 

2.0 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.1 

1.04 

1.13 

0.94 

2.16 
14.2 
16.0 
.68 
.00 
.53 
3.33 
10.4 

21 

69 

58 

120 

873 

952 

42 

0 

33 

205 

619 

| 2.9 

.1 

.29 

le 

8.5 

2 

1.3 

76 

1.5 

.3 

.42 

26 

32 

.3 

1.8 

111 

46 

.0 

10.8 

600 

8 

.3 

1. 55 

95 

.3 

.2 

.25 

15 

59 

.0 

2.0 

123 

12 

.0 

1.2 

71 

108 

.0 

13.8 

849 

56 

.0 

0.5 

584 

• 0 

.0 

.19 

11 

108 

.0 

3.57 

2, 580 


a U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 109, p. 22'), 191$. 

b U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 359, p. 251,1916; Water-bupply Paper 389, p. 188,191 , 










































































38 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

Monthly discharge of Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers —Continued. 

Hassayampa River near Wagoner . 0 


Month. 


October, 1914... 

November_ 

December.. 

January, 1915.. 

February. 

March. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September.... 

The year 


Discharge in second-feet. 

Run-off in 
acre-feet. 

Maximum. 

Minimum. 

Mean. 

160 

0.0 

14.2 

873 

194 

1.0 

22.0 

1,310 

10 

1.5 

2.2 

135 

250 

1.5 

14.9 

916 

210 

25 

105 

5,850 

175 

55 

106 

6, 520 

110 

10 

28.7 

1,710 

460 

25 

130 

7,990 

100 

1.0 

26.3 

1.560 

660 

1.5 

81.2 

4,990 

660 

.5 

70.9 

4,360 

25 

1.0 

2.8 

168 

660 

0.0 

50.2 

36,400 


e U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 409, p. 227, 1918. 


EPHEMERAL STREAMS. 

Ephemeral streams flow only during or after rains and as an 
immediate result of the rain. The largest of them rise on the steep 
and rocky sides of the mountains or on the broad slopes of higher 
alluvial plains. They furnish water for drinking by man and 
stock for only short periods, but these periods are important, for 
they may permit journeys into districts that are at other times 
without water, and they enable stock to spread out immediately 
after a rain into territory where they are ordinarily unable to graze. 
It is a curious feature of the desert that a comparatively large 
amount of irrigation is carried on there by means of flood water. 
For agriculture of this type the conditions of aggradation that 
prevail in most of the valleys are peculiarly favorable. In many 
parts of the arid West the channels of the ephemeral streams are 
intrenched from 5 to 40 feet below the adjacent flood plains, making 
irrigation by flood waters extremely difficult. However, where 
aggradation is taking place, as in most of southwestern Arizona, 
the flood waters spread from one side to another of a narrow valley 
between hills or over vast alluvial slopes at the foot of the 
mountains. Such sheet floods may be utilized for irrigation with 
much more than usual success. The Papago from prehistoric time 
to the present has been dependent for his living upon crops raised 
by this method of farming. In the Papago country ephemeral 
streams are therefore by no means an unimportant part of the water 
supply. White men do not commonly utilize this source of water 
for agriculture, however, and consequently in the country north of 
Gila River, where Indians are rare, ephemeral streams are valuable 
principally as watering places for cattle and for men distant from 
more reliable supplies. 




































TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


89 


CENTENNIAL WASH. 

The large dry streamway that in its upper course is called the 
Cullen Wash and in its lower course Centennial Wash forms the 
longest continuous drainage channel in the lower Gila region, except 
the two through-flowing rivers, the Colorado and the Gila. (See 
Pis. II-IV.) The name “ Centennial ” is said to have been given be¬ 
cause this wash was supposed to be 100 miles long. If Cullen Wash 
is included this is not a great exaggeration. The combined length is 
certainly nearly 90 miles and may be more. It will serve as a good 
example of an ephemeral stream. 

Cullen Wash drains south westward through McMullen Valley, in 
which Wenden is situated, and receives water from the Harquahala 
and Harcuvar mountains. The exact length of this wash was not de¬ 
termined, because the northeastern part of McMullen Valley was not 
visited during the present investigation, but as it has a strongly 
marked channel at Wenden, it evidently rises far above that town. 
Where it leaves McMullen Valley and enters the west end of Harris¬ 
burg Valley it makes a right-angled bend and leads toward the south¬ 
east. Just above this turn it is 200 or 300 feet wide and is bordered 
by banks of soft silt about 4 feet high. 

From the point where the wash enters Harrisburg Valley to the 
point where it discharges into Gila River, a distance of nearly 60 
miles, it is known as Centennial Wash. It drains Harrisburg Val¬ 
ley, the Harquahala Plain, Eagletail Valley, and a large part of 
Arlington Valley. It receives water from the Harquahala, Little 
Harquahala, Eagletail, Bighorn, and Gila Bend mountains and 
from Lone Mountain, Saddle Mountain, and the Palo Verde Hills. 

The characteristics of this stream vary markedly in different parts 
of its course. In Harrisburg Valley it has a well-defined gravel- 
bottomed channel, bordered by mesquite and palo verde trees. A 
peculiarity of the drainage in this valley is that the tributaries from 
the north leads south westward, whereas Centennial Wash leads 
southeastward, suggesting that the valley originally drained toward 
the northwest. This is not well shown on the map (PI. Ill), be¬ 
cause not enough topographic detail is given, but if a detailed con¬ 
tour map were prepared this fact would be brought out. Ground 
water is encountered in Harrisburg Valley at depths of 18 to 30 
feet, as compared with 100 feet and more in McMullen Valley and 
290 to 400 feet on the Harquahala Plain. This condition is prob¬ 
ably due to the fact that the valley fill is much shallower in Harris¬ 
burg Valley than in either McMullen Valley or Harquahala Plain. 
At Tolladay’s Well, at the east end of Harrisburg Valley, the depth 
to bedrock is 76 feet, and the wells on Mr. Reid’s ranch, about a 
mile west of Tolladay’s Well, are only 38 to 42 feet deep and are re¬ 
ported to reach bedrock. The southeast end of Harrisburg Valley, 


40 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


through which the stream emerges, is narrow and gorgelike, as com¬ 
pared with the wide northwestern entrance, and these facts all tend 
to indicate the possibility that there have been marked drainage 
changes here in recent geologic time. It seems likely that Cen¬ 
tennial Wash, eating back by headward erosion across Harquahala 
Plain, cut through a divide just east of the present site of Tolladay’s 
Well. The stream would then have been able to tap the drainage 
of Harrisburg Valley and cause it to flow east; but before this cap¬ 
ture the water from Harrisburg Valley probably flowed northwest 
into Cullen Wash, which then continued west, perhaps escaping from 
McMullen Valley through Granite Wash Pass, instead of making an 
abrupt turn into Harrisburg Valley as at present. The preparation 
of an accurate contour map of this section of the country would do 
much to prove whether or not this hypothesis is correct. 

Centennial Wash keeps its well-defined channel only a short dis¬ 
tance beyond Harrisburg Valley and then begins to split up into 
several channels, fingering out downstream. A few miles southeast 
of the point where the wash leaves Harrisburg Valley no channel 
exists, but lines of mesquite bushes extend across the adobe plain. 
These lines of green join and part again, forming a pattern very 
similar to that produced by the channels of a braided stream, but 
they follow no visible channels. The slope of the plain is not great. 
It was not measured but can hardly be as much as 25 feet to the mile. 
The tributary washes that enter the Harquahala Plain spread out 
likewise a short distance from the mountains. Their channels dis¬ 
appear, and their courses are marked only by growths of galleta and 
other grasses and by scattered palo verde and mesquite bushes. 

Where Centennial Wash enters Eagletail Valley it forms an¬ 
other well-marked channel perhaps 200 feet wide with banks 2 to 
4 feet high lined with palo verde and other bushes. In this valley 
it receives several large tributary washes that head in the mountains 
on either side. 

The channel disappears almost immediately on leaving Eagletail 
Valley, and thence to Gila River the line of flow is marked only 
by a luxuriant growth of mesquite trees. So dense, however, is this 
thicket near the river that the cow punchers can not penetrate it 
with their horses. If cattle get into it, the} 7 are in a sanctuary, 
safe from pursuit until they wander out again. There are a number 
of discontinuous runways, most of them only a few inches wide, 
cut in the adobe soil in the mesquite thicket, but nothing like a 
continuous and definite channel. These little runways apparently 
change with every rain. Along Centennial Wash in Arlington 
Valley are some discontinuous terraces and gravel eminences whose 
origin is obscure. It is suggested that they may be related to the 
lake that must have temporarily filled this valley when the lava 


TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


41 


flow dammed Gila River at the present site of the Gillespie dam. 
(See pp. 70-71.) Several large washes enter Arlington Valley from 
the Gila Bend Mountains and persist as gravel-bottomed channels 
almost or quite to Centennial Wash. The wash that emerges from 
the mountains where the old road to Agua Caliente. enters them 
forms in the lower part a gravelly channel between distinct terraces 
a quarter of a mile apart. The channel is only 50 feet wide and 
is bordered with palo verde trees. 

It is to be noted that wherever Centennial Wash or its tributaries 
have channels with well-defined banks the characteristic bush is 
palo verde, usually with more or less ironwood and other bushes, 
and wherever they spread out over adobe flats the characteristic 
vegetation is mesquite, commonly accompanied by bunch grasses. 
This rule appears to hold in general for all the washes in this part of 
Arizona. 

Centennial Wasli does not have anything like a uniform grade 
throughout its length. The grade in Harrisburg and Eagletail val¬ 
leys appears to be distinctly greater than it is elsewhere, and the 
channels in these valleys contain much coarser material than else¬ 
where. That in Harrisburg Valley is gravel, which increases in 
coarseness downstream. At the east end of the valley boulders 2 
feet in diameter were noted in the gravel, but most of it is composed 
of pebbles much smaller than this. In Eagletail Valley the channel 
is floored with coarse sand and gravel. Cullen Wash (the upper 
end of Centennial Wash) contains coarse sand. Its grade would 
rppear to be greater than those of the portions of Centennial Wash 
in Harquahala Plain and Arlington Valley but less than those of 
the portions in Harrisburg and Eagletail valleys. The part of Cen¬ 
tennial Wash lying in Harquahala Plain apparently has a lower 
grade than any other part. 

LAKES AND PONDS. 

In humid regions lakes and ponds are common. Glaciated regions 
are characteristically dotted with lakes. In arid regions, on the con¬ 
trary, lakes are relatively rare, not because there are in such regions 
no sufficient causes to produce lake basins, but because the basins 
formed are rapidly filled up and obliterated by sediment brought in 
by muddy streams, or they may be but seldom filled with water by 
feeble streams, or they may be rapidly dried up by excessive evapora¬ 
tion. The chief causes of lake basins in an arid region are earth 
movements, the blocking of valleys by sediment brought in by tribu¬ 
tary streams, by wind-blown sand, or by flows of lava, and the 
scouring out of hollows by wind erosion. 

The lakes and ponds that occur in such a region are therefore im¬ 
portant. The only natural water bodies in the lower Gila region large 


42 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


enough to be called ponds are the sloughs and shallow ponds along 
Colorado River. In the silt-floored valley between the Bighorn and 
Vulture mountains water is reported to stand to a depth of 1 or 2 feet 
over a considerable area for some months after a heavy rain, thus 
constituting a temporary lake. Shallow sheets of water are at times, 
after exceptional rains, formed in other localities, such as the Rane- 
gras Plains near Desert Well, but these are of very brief duration. 

CHARCOS. 

In the Papago country the term “ charco ” is applied to a natural 
water hole in an adobe flat or a wash, but in other parts of the 
Southwest the same type of water hole is called a “ mud hole ” or 
“mud tank” or is not distinguished from other types of tanks or 
u tanques.” “ Charco ” is a Spanish word signifying a pool of stand¬ 
ing or stagnant water and has the advantage of being a distinctive 
name. The word “tank ” may then be reserved for a natural reser¬ 
voir in rock. 

Charcos are found as single pools or a series of pools along the 
streams that deposit fine-grained material, usually sandy clay or 
adobe. They vary in size from shallow pans 18 inches deep and 3 
feet wide by 6 feet long to depressions 5 to 6 feet deep, 15 to 30 
feet wide, and more than 1,000 feet long. They constitute an impor¬ 
tant source of water supply in the Papago country but are rare or 
absent in the lower Gila region. 

ROCK TANKS. 

DEFINITION. 

A rock tank is a watering place consisting of a cavity or depression 
in rock which fills periodically with rain or flood water. The Mexi¬ 
cans commonly and many Americans use the Spanish word “tinaja,” 
meaning a bowl or jar, in speaking of a rock tank. These cavities 
may occur either away from stream channels or in stream channels. 
(See PI. VII, B.) 

ROCK TANKS AWAY FROM STREAM CHANNELS. 

In mountains or hills small rock pockets are found which are due 
to the unequal weathering of rock surfaces. They range in size from 
depressions a few inches across and half an inch deep to pans 5 to 20 
feet across and 6 to 8 inches deep. Such pockets hold water for 
longer or shorter periods after a rain. They are of little value as 
watering places, yet the experienced hunter and traveler knows well 
how to take advantage of their existence for the few hours or days 
that they hold water. On the upper portions of Saddle Mountain, 
for example, are a number of such pockets. They are very shallow, 
but seme are reported to be 10 feet or more in diameter. 


* 


TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


43 


ROCK TANKS IN STREAM CHANNELS. 

The largest rock tanks are those clue to irregularities in the rocky 
beds of streams, which contain pools of water after floods. These 
irregularities are produced by eddies and vagaries of the current, 
which tend to erode the stream bed unequally. They are probably 
no more common in ephemeral streams than in the permanent streams 
of humid countries. The beds of ephemeral streams are, however, 
exposed throughout their length during the greater part of the year, 
and on this account undrained depressions in them are easily found. 

The common depressions are of five types—joint-block irregulari¬ 
ties, scour depressions, riffle hollows, normal potholes, and plunge 
pools. Most rocks are divided into blocks by sets of intersecting 
fractures or joints. The impact of the current and of the sediment 
which it carries tends to break out blocks of reck in the stream 


Direction of flow Direction of flow 



A Joint-block irregularities C Riffle hollows 


Direction of flow 



~Et Plunge pools 


Figure 3.—Diagram showing five types of depressions in stream beds. 

channel. This process of plucking results in irregularities of the 
channel, as shown in Figure 3, A. 

Where the joints are widely spaced the blocks are large and the 
depressions are correspondingly large. Closely spaced joints, how¬ 
ever, produce a rough but comparatively even-floored channel. It 
is obvious that very wide spacing of joints will produce joint frag¬ 
ments too large to be easily removed, and for any stream there 
is an optimum spacing of the joints that will produce the maximum 
roughness of channel floor. In these depressions water remains 
after a flood, but few of them are of great importance as watering 
places. Commonly the process of joint-block plucking is combined 
with the processes detailed in the following paragraphs. The frac¬ 
tures must be water tight or nearly so in the bottom and downstream 


















44 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


wall of the tank, else the water will drain rapidly. In some tanks 
it is evident that joints on the upper side of the cavity are open and 
that through them small amounts of water seep into the tank for 
short periods after floods. 

Where the channel of a stream is curved the swiftest thread of the 
current is near the outside of the bend. The maximum erosive force 
of the current is exerted over a crescentic area in the bend, as is 
shown in Figure 3, B. Such an area is likely to be scoured below 
the grade of the stream, producing a hollow of the type here called 
scour depressions. In combination with joint-block plucking and 
the formation of potholes this scouring process is likely to form 
good-sized tanks in hard rock. 

Riffle hollows occur where the bed of a stream is composed of 
alternate layers of hard and soft rock, as illustrated in Figure 3, C. 
Erosion of the softer rock is carried below the grade established by 
the harder rocks, which project in the stream bed and constitute 
obstacles to the stream flow. Such depressions are commonly from 
3 to 12 inches deep and vary in size according to the spacing of the 
harder portions of the rock in the stream bed. Riffle hollows make 
very shallow pools unless they are deepened by pothole action or 
unless they grade into plunge pools. 

A pothole is formed by a rotary grinding or drilling of an original 
hollow in a stream bed by sand, pebbles, or boulders carried by the 
current. The top of a pothole is nearly circular, and the diameter 
increases below, as shown in Figure 3, D. The diameter may range 
from 3 inches to 10 feet or more, and the depth from 6 inches to 8 feet 
or more. 25 Potholes are developed in all streams that are actively 
eroding their channels in consolidated rock, but they are more likely 
to be found in gorges and below waterfalls. They are thus associ¬ 
ated with and grade into plunge pools. 

A plunge pool is formed by the impact of water and the sand and 
gravel which it carries, at the foot of a waterfall (Fig. 3, E). A 
fall differs from the protuberances in a stream bed described above 
in that it is usually great enough to cause a flexure in the flood 
surface of the stream. Consequently a very high velocity, accom¬ 
panied by eddies and back currents, is present at the foot of the 
fall. The erosive effect at the foot of the fall increases with the 
discharge of the stream in flood and the quantity of the sediment 
carried, though it depends to some extent on the character of the 
sediment. The ordinary stream in southwestern Arizona is com¬ 
petent to erode pools about 10 to 20 feet in diameter and 3 to 10 
feet deep. 

36 Elston, E. D., Potholes, their variety, origin, and significance: Sci. Monthly, vol 
5, pp. 554-567, 1917; vol. 6, pp. 37-51, 1918. 





TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


45 


The shape of the pool depends on the character of the rock and 
the amount of modification due to joint-block plucking and pothole 
formation. Plunge pools constitute the largest type of channel irregu¬ 
larity and consequently hold the largest pools of water. Most rock 
tanks are of this class. Horse Tanks (p. 210 and PI. XXIII, A ), 
Ladder Tanks (p. 211), and McPherson Tanks (p. 213), in the Castle 
Dome Mountains, are typical examples. 

PHYSIOGRAPHIC RELATIONS OF ROCK TANKS. 

From the foregoing discussion it is obvious that the largest rock 
tanks are plunge pools at the foot of falls, and that even channel 
depressions of the other types are likely to be larger in the parts of 
a stream near falls and rapids. The factors governing the occur¬ 
rence of falls are thus of importance. Falls occur in southwestern 
Arizona at localities of at least three types—where there are marked 
differences in the ability of adjacent parts of the rock to resist ero¬ 
sion, where dissection of a mountain pediment on a new grade pro¬ 
duces headwater falls, and where renewed uplift of fault-block 
mountains produces falls on a stream that crosses the fault line. 

FALLS DUE TO DIFFERING EROSIVE RESISTANCE OF ROCK. 

Falls due wholly to an unusually resistant rock were found in 
only one locality and on a minor scale; but the site of falls due to 
other causes may be determined by a resistant bed, as at Horse Tanks 

(p. 210). 

FALLS DUE TO CHANGES IN STREAM GRADE. 

Many of the mountains of southwestern Arizona are surrounded 
by plains known as pediments, 26 which slope to the intermontane 
valleys. These plains are underlain by hard rocks similar to those 
of the mountains. The streams that once wandered more or less at 
will across them are now intrenched in steep-walled gullies or little 
canyons, which are deeper toward the mountains. The canyons in¬ 
crease in length bv headward erosion. At the head of each little 
canyon is a fall or rapid that marks the separation between the old 
grade and the new. These relations are brought out in Figure 4. 
As each stream that heads in the mountains suffers such a change 
in grade there are many falls. Though not every fall produces a 
plunge pool large enough to make an effective watering place, the 
prevalence of falls due to the dissection of mountain pediments 
is the principal reason for the large number of rock tanks in the 

* Bryan, Kirk, Erosion and sedimentation in the Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 730, pp. 52-58, 1022. 




46 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


desert region. The local conditions at each fall determine the size 
and effectiveness of the plunge pool and associated potholes as water¬ 
ing places. 



Figure 4. —Diagram showing the production of falls and tanks by the erosion of a 

mountain pediment on a new grade. 

FALLS DUE TO RENEWED UPLIFT. 


Most of the mountains of southwestern Arizona are narrow up¬ 
lifted strips of the earth’s crust bounded by faults on one or both 
sides. After uplift streams cut canyons and established smooth 
grades from the crest of the mountains to the adjacent valleys. In 
certain ranges renewed uplift took place on one side of the mountains 
only, probably along the same fault plane on which the original up¬ 
lift occurred. This uplift resulted in flattening the old stream grade 
in the higher part of the mountains and produced a cliff or fault 
scarp across the stream channels on that side of the range. Streams 
immediately began to cut headward through this fault scarp, and 
it has generally been removed. However, in certain ranges, the Sierra 


Alluvial slope i. Narrow canyon 

Eroded after 
second uplift 


Broad upland' 
canyon 
Eroded after 
first uplift 



/ 


Figure 5.—Diagram showing production of falls and tanks by renewed uplift of eroded 

fault-block mountains. 


Estrella and the Tinajas Altas Mountains in particular, the new 
grade has not yet reached the crest of the range and is separated 
from the old by falls, as illustrated in Figure 5. 
















TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


47 


SAND TANKS. 

Sand tanks are a variety of rock tanks formed in stream channels 
in the several ways above outlined and differing from other rock 
tanks only in being filled with sand. They are produced when the 
tail end of a flood carries sufficient sand to fill the cavities; when the 
later part of the flood is relatively clear the rock tanks are filled 
with water only. The sand thus deposited in the rock basins is satu¬ 
rated with water. The upper portion quickly dries, but because the 
pore spaces between the grains are relatively large and capillary 
action is unable to bring the water to the surface, further evapora¬ 
tion can not take place. Though for the same size of cavity the vol¬ 
ume of water in a sand tank is less than a fourth that of a rock 
tank, the water commonly remains in it for a longer period after a 
flood. The use of the water by animals is restricted by the necessity 
of digging holes down to the water level and throwing the sand out 
of the tank. Coyotes are able to do this with great ease, but horses, 
burros, and cattle have great difficulty in digging in the sand. Many 
rock tanks, on the other hand, are so accessible to wild animals and 
stock that within a few days after they are full all the water has 
been used. 

DIRECT UTILIZATION OF RAIN WATER. 

RAIN WATER SHED FROM ROOFS. 

The saving of rain water by various devices has long been practiced 
in localities where other supplies are inadequate or where the water 
available is distasteful. Many prospectors’ tents are equipped with 
gutters that direct rain water shed from the tent roof into cans and 
other receptacles. 

In and around A jo during the long period of development of this 
camp miners and prospectors have contended against the disadvan¬ 
tage of inadequate water supply. Not only was the amount of water 
small, but many of the wells furnished water containing salts of 
copper. During the period of construction of the plant of the New 
Cornelia Copper Co. in 1914 and 1915 the population was about 
5,000 and drinking water was sold by the bucket in stands and 
peddled on the streets by hucksters. To make up the deficiency in 
well water, nearly every house was equipped with gutters and tanks 
to save rain water. A common form of apparatus is shown in Plate 
VIII, B. Cistern water of this kind was used for drinking and 
cooking only and thus made to last for a considerable length of time. 

Wherever the need is great enough roofs for the sole purpose of 
collecting rain water might be erected. Such structures have been 
used successfully on roads in the deserts of Australia. 27 

37 Gregory, II. E., Australia., The lonely continent: Nat. Geog. Mag., vol. 30, p. 554, 
1916, and personal communication. 



48 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


WATER CATCHES. 

“Water catch*' is a term in use in Bermuda, India, and other 
British colonies for a natural or artificial surface constructed solely 
for the collection of rain water. 28 Such a system of obtaining water 
has many advantages. 

The construction of a water catch involves selection and prepara¬ 
tion of the site and construction of a cistern or container. The 
site selected should have the maximum of bare rock surface and 
the minimum of soil and vegetation. It is obvious that such places 
are mostly slopes. Excessively large drainage areas should be 
avoided, because of the expense involved in cleaning and fencing 
them. Granite and gneiss are most likely to furnish suitable 
surfaces. Lava is likely to have many cracks, and some lava beds 
are so porous that the run-off from them in small showers is likely 
to be almost nothing. Places can be found, however, where the 
lavas are very thick, uniform, and free from cracks. Certain 
massive conglomerates erode with great bare rock surfaces, but 
they absorb considerable rain, so that on such rock larger drainage 
areas should be provided. 

Where the rock surface does not drain naturally to a single outlet, 
masonry or concrete walls should be built to direct the water. The 
cracks in lavas may of course be cemented, or wholly artificial 
surfaces of concrete may be constructed on hillsides of soft material, 
but it is thought that in general the expense involved in such work 
is too great. On ordinary rock surfaces all the bushes should be 
cut, the soil swept up, and the loose rock piled. Free movement 
of rain water can then take place, and a minimum of dirt and trash 
will be carried to the cistern. A strong fence, preferably of woven 
wire, should be provided to prevent contamination by animals. 

The cistern or water container may be built above or below the 
ground. The simplest arrangement is a shaft, but the difficulty of 
providing a suitable screen to prevent the entrance of trash with 
the water and to exclude animals is great. A cistern built partly 
or wholly above ground lias the advantage that water is readily 
taken from the bottom and suitable screens may be provided. Figure 
6 shows such a cistern providing a storage capacity of 12,000 gallons. 
It has a base 13 feet square inside and an inside height of 10 feet. 
It requires 30.8 cubic yards of concrete, which, with a mixture of 1 
cement to 2 sand and 3 gravel, and plastered inside, will require 5fi 
barrels of Portland cement. If reinforced with iron rods spaced 8 
inches apart it will require 690 feet of J-inch rods. 

The area of prepared surface required to fill a given cistern is 
difficult to estimate. It is obvious that the smoother and less 

38 Gregory, H. E., The Navajo country : U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 380. 
p. 120, 1916. 



TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


49 


absorptive the surface and the greater the slope the more efficiently 
will the water catch work. At the Fortuna mine (PI. IX, A) the 
catchment surfaces are very imperfect, yet the smallest, having a 
surface of only 25,000 square feet, furnishes water sufficient for the 
prospect hole, which has a capacity of about 15,000 gallons. 

SANITARY CONSIDERATIONS. 

Rain water conveyed over a bare rock surface to a clean tank or 
cistern remains clean and palatable if it is protected from contamina¬ 
tion. At some places the water saved by the water catches contains 



trash and vegetation of various kinds, which rots or putrefies. This 
putrefaction is due to bacteria that thrive in darkness, for in all the 
examples noted the stored water is protected from direct sunlight. 
After the organic matter is broken down and liquefied a further 
oxidizing action takes place, and the water becomes clear and only 
slightly discolored. If the water were stored in open pans or reser¬ 
voirs and not protected from sunlight, other bacteria and many 
algous plants would grow in the water, die, and in turn decompose. 
Thus a continuous process would keep the water unfit for drink¬ 
ing. It is therefore essential that light should be excluded from the 
cistern. Any leaves or twigs that pass the protective screen will be 
decomposed in a single period, at the conclusion of which the water 



























































































































































































50 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


will be fit for drinking. The cleaner the water catch the shorter 
this period will be. With thorough precautions against admitting 
any organic matter to the cistern, no putrefaction will ensue. 

All bodies of water in the desert attract animals, and many water¬ 
ing places are defiled by their dead bodies or excreta. The smooth, 
shelving sides of rock tanks are veritable death traps for mountain 
sheep. As the water gets low the sheep take greater and greater 
risks in drinking and sometimes fall in and drown. Rats, mice, and 
rabbits are similarly trapped. For smaller animals an inclined 
path may be built which will enable them to drink at any water 
level. Efficient screening is, however, best, because by using a suffi¬ 
ciently fine mesh bees may also be excluded. Bees are common in 
the desert, hiving in the caverns and crannies of the rock. They 
drown in large numbers, and their dead bodies give water an un¬ 
pleasant taste and odor. In the design of cistern recommended the 
same screen that excludes trash serves to exclude animals also. 

The chance of the introduction of disease germs into a cistern is 
much reduced in a desert region because of the sparse population. 
Even crude devices are not likely to be contaminated by disease 
germs. Travelers may protect themselves if water from such a 
supply looks particularly foul by boiling it before use. Boiling will 
probably make the danger from disease germs negligible but will 
not increase the palatability of really foul waters. 

RESERVOIRS. 

PURPOSES. 

In southwestern Arizona many small reservoirs for the storage of 
flood water are built by individuals and small companies, largely 
without expert advice. The number of such enterprises could be 
increased with great benefit to the region. The following para¬ 
graphs review the conditions under which dams must be built and 
point out the best practice. Large irrigation and power projects 
are not likely to be considered for most of this region because of 
the absence of great rivers. Moreover, such enterprises present 
many special problems in engineering and finance, the correct solu¬ 
tion of which can be arrived at only by large organizations with a 
competent technical staff. 

The problems involved in constructing the smaller reservoirs vary 
somewhat according to the purposes for which they are built. Four 
general purposes are common—supplies for mines, stock-watering 
places, domestic supplies, and irrigation. 

Mines require comparatively large quantities of water for milling 
operations and the use of the people employed. Shallow wells in 
the near-by hills usually suffice for prospecting, but when larger 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 19-S PLATE VII 



A. HEAD OF CHAR CO IS EAR I.A QU1TTJNI, EAST OF AJO MOUNTAINS. 

Photograph by Kirk Bryan- 



B. 


TINAJAS ALTAS FROM THE TERRACES AT THE FOOT OF THE 

MOUNTAINS. 


Photograph by Kirk Bryan. 












U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE VIII 



A. THE UPLAND VALLEY AT TINAJAS ALTAS. 
Photograph by Kirk Bryan. 



B. HOUSE IN “OLD AJO,” PIMA COUNTY. 

Showing spacious roof, equipped with gutters to catch rain water and metal tank into which 

the gutters drain. Photograph by Kirk Bryan. 














U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE IX 



A. WATER CATCH NEAR FORTUNA MINE, 


YUMA COUNTY. 


Photograph by Kirk Rryan. 



B. ARTESA POND, PIMA COUNTY. 
Photograph by Kirk Bryan. 




WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 49S PLATE 



REPRESO AT PISINEMO, PIMA COUNTY. 
















TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


51 


operations begin a larger water supply must be obtained. The 
mines of the region are at the edge of or within the mountains. 
TV ells of good yield can be obtained only near the centers of the 
larger valleys, at a distance from the mines. Water obtained from 
such wells must be pumped against a high head through a long pipe 
line. The old mines at Welden, in the Quijotoa Mountains, Pima 
County, and the Fortuna mine, in the Gila Mountains, Yuma County, 
were so supplied. The recently developed water supply for the New 
Cornelia Copper Co. at A jo, Pima County, is an example of this 
solution of the problem. However, reservoirs to store the flood 
waters of mountain canyons may often be equally advantageous. 
The Allison mine, in the Baboquivari Mountains, and the Montana 
mine, in the Tumacacori Mountains, both in Pima County, have 
masonry dams and reservoirs. 

Reservoirs for stock-watering places are usually small and are built 
in the edge of the mountains or more commonly in the plains. Their 
location is fixed by the position of grazing lands and the absence of 
other supplies. Locations for reservoirs in the foothills may be so 
chosen that the dam will have a rock foundation, or at least a rock 
spillway. In construction such reservoirs resemble those in the 
mountains. Reservoirs in the plains have their special problems dis¬ 
cussed at length below. As stock-watering places reservoirs have many 
advantages, for if properly located and built they require attention at 
only infrequent intervals and are likely to have the most water dur¬ 
ing the season when the grass is best. They are relatively inexpensive, 
and so many sites are available that the stock can be widely spread 
over the range, with the great advantage of preventing overgrazing 
of parts of the region while other parts are undergrazed. The reser¬ 
voirs are full just after rains, and the stock can use the forage around 
them, while the vegetation in areas around permanent water is grow¬ 
ing under the most advantageous conditions. 

The use of reservoirs for domestic water supplies is not common 
among the white population, except at certain mines where the drain- 
are area is usually free from contamination and reasonable sanitary 
precautions are taken. 

The storage of flood water for irrigation seems without investiga¬ 
tion a most natural line of development in a dry country in which 
the work of flood water stands out so prominently to even the casual 
traveler. On every hand are large channels in which drift wood, 
overturned trees, and great boulders testify to the passage of large 
quantities of water. Yet the difficulties of profitable storage of water 
in amounts sufficient for irrigation are very great. The available 
reservoir sites are few, and some of them are useless because of diffi¬ 
culties in construction, others because the total water discharged 



52 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


from the drainage area is insufficient to fill a reservoir. All flood- 
water projects suffer also from the disadvantage that the desert flood 
waters carry so much sand and silt that the reservoir will soon fill 
with sediment and thus be useless. An irrigation enterprise based 
solely on the storage of flood waters from the ephemeral streams 
of the desert is an extrahazardous venture, which should be un¬ 
dertaken only with a thorough knowledge of local conditions and 
with expert advice. 

RESERVOIRS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. 

A mountain reservoir is usually built at a constriction of a moun¬ 
tain valley above which there is a sufficient basin to form the reser¬ 
voir. Rock foundations are available or can usually be obtained by 
trenching the loose sand and gravel in the bottom of the valley. 
The drainage area must be large enough to supply the water required. 
Unfortunately data on the flow of streams are available for only a 
few places. Very large spillways are necessary. The drainage area 
should be well cloaked with grass or so rocky that the flood waters 
carry but little sediment, else the reservoir will soon fill up. The 
kind of dam to be built, whether earth, rock fill, masonry, or con¬ 
crete, is an ordinary engineering problem and depends on local 
costs and available labor. 29 

In the foothills there are many small reservoir sites, which differ 
from those in the mountains in that rock foundations are commonly 
not available. Earth dams are also easier to build at such sites be¬ 
cause of the availability of soft material. Such sites resemble those 
described below, but many are easier of construction because rock 
spillways can be made. 

Certain possibilities of location in foothill regions are shown in 
two reservoirs in Pima County. Artesa Pond (PI. IX, B) is created 
by an L-shaped embankment projecting outward and upstream from 
the rocky spur from which the photograph is taken. Flood waters 
gathered in the northern part of Baboquivari Valley flow westward 
around the north end of the Artesa Mountains. At this part of 
their course they spread over an adobe flat without definite channel. 
The open end of the L-shaped embankment intercepts part of the 
flood, and the excess flows around the embankment. Plate X, A , is 
a view of an unnamed represo in the hills east of Dobbs Butte. 
The drainage of a large area to the west (left in the view) spreads 
over an adobe flat from which it escapes through two gaps in the 
hills to Altar Valley. In the southern gap has been placed the. 

20 Fortier, Samuel, and Bixby, F. L., Earth-fill dams and hydraulic-fill dams: U. S. 
Dept. Agr. Office Eiper. Sta. Bull. 249, pt. 1, 1912; Timber dams and rock-fill dams: 
U. S. Dept. Agr. Office Exper. Sta. Bull. 249, pt. 2, 1912. 




TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


53 


<lam, with its ends resting on the rocks of the hills. No spillway is 
provided, for the excess water flows out through the northern gap. 

RESERVOIRS IN THE PLAINS AND VALLEYS. 

In the alluvial plains and valleys no foundations exist for masonry 
or concrete dams, and thus only earth dams can be built. The 
reservoirs are commonly small and shallow, though in exceptional 
locations large ponds can be made. Most of these reservoirs are used 
for watering stock. The American cattleman calls such a reservoir 
a “ tank the Mexican uses the word “ represo ” (literally dam) and 
also “ charco.” 

Reservoirs may be constructed either directly on a stream 
channel or at one side. The problems involved in these tAvo types 
of structure will be discussed separately. It is obvious that if a 
dam is built across a channel the reservoir must be sufficiently large 
to hold all the water carried by the stream or else a spillway must 
be provided. A successful spillway requires care in building and 
must be kept in repair. Its capacity also must not be exceeded by 
the largest flood or the earth dam will be overtopped and breached. 
The very large number of failures with this tj’pe of reservoir in all 
parts of the arid West testify to the difficulty in meeting these 
requirements. 

SoutliAvestern Arizona is an exceptional region because of the 
relatively large number of streams that have so small a flow that 
all or nearly all the water may be held in a single reservoir. The 
lake at Buenos Aires, in Altar Valley, is the largest and best ex¬ 
ample. EA^en here a spillway is provided and is required in ex¬ 
ceptional years. Many smaller represos built on small streams 
rising within the alluvial plains are equally successful in holding 
all the water of a single flood. 

A reservoir at one side of a stream channel depends for its 
water supply on a diversion dam and ditch or simply on flood 
water that overflows the channel. The streams of the alluvial 
slopes of southwestern Arizona are peculiarly favorable for 
reservoirs of this type. After issuing from the little canyons that 
cross the rock-cut plains surrounding most of the mountain ranges 
the streams spread out in numerous diverging channels. In many 
places the ephemeral streams carry only fine material, mostly mud 
Avith a minimum of sand and gravel. Such localities are particularly 
favorable because of the relatively low velocity of the floods and 
the possibility of water-tight reservoirs. Channels hardly exist; 
the floods spread as broad sheets of mud-laden Avater. Usually the 
main thread of the current runs betAveen natural levees in a shallow 
channel somewhat above the level of the surrounding plain. The 


54 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


natural levees form a broad, low ridge similar to the channel ridges 
of the Sacramento Valley, 30 though not so marked. 

The form of such a channel ridge is shown in Figure (, which is 
a diagrammatic map of a typical alluvial slope, though based on the 
conditions at Big Fields, in the Papago country. The contours are 
modeled on those shown on an excellent map of this part of the 
Papago Reservation made by Percy Jones, jr., for the United States 
Indian Service. In addition to the ridge along the main flood chan¬ 
nel, there are other low ridges which mark the former location of 
the flood channel. In the low ground between such an old ridge and 
ihe active channel ridge is the reservoir, surrounded by a U-shaped 
embankment. This reservoir receives water through a ditch from 
the flood channel, but during large floods no ditch is necessary, for 



Figure 7. —Diagrammatic map showing location of represo at one side of main flood- 

water channel. 

the natural overflow from the channel will be caught by the open 
embankments of the reservoir. 

The main streams of the larger valleys have beds of two types— 
broad indefinite flats marked by shallow discontinuous minor chan¬ 
nels and beds that lie in definite channels with bordering flood plains 
of various widths on either side, and these flood plains in turn bor¬ 
dered by bluffs. 

The beds of the first type particularly are suitable for small reser¬ 
voirs: the floods spread widely and have a low velocity, and a low* 
embankment will turn the necessary flood water to a reservoir. The 
slopes, however, are so gentle that usually only the excavation made 
to form the embankment will contain water of sufficient depth to be 

30 Bryan, Kirk, Geology and ground-water resources of Sacramento Valley, Calif.: 
U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Taper 495, pp. 28-30, 1923. 



































TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


00 


valuable. The represo at Pisinemo, Pima County (PI. X, Z>), is of 
the U shape common in these localities. In many places it is pos¬ 
sible to enlarge a charco and thus gain an increased capacity with 
small effort. Sand dunes occur on some of these broad flats. They 
divert the flood waters by tortuous routes within the flat and in 
places create basins favorable for reservoirs. The Papago ponds or 
represos at Tonukvo and Comovo, in Pima County, are built on 
such sites. 


Jn the valleys close to and tributary to Gila River and in the val¬ 
leys that are surrounded by mountains higher than the average the 
stream beds are of the second type and lie in flood plains bordered 
by bluffs. The concentration of flood waters usually maintains a 
well-defined stream channel, with banks from 5 to 10 feet high. 
A diversion dam is necessary to obtain water for a reservoir either in 
t lie flood plain or at the mouth of a tributary valley that breaks 
through the bluffs. With proper construction reservoirs in these 
localities are very successful, but they require a great deal more 
upkeep and attention than reservoirs along streams of the type pre¬ 
viously described. 

An ingenious method of obtaining a water supply for small res¬ 
ervoirs has proved successful in the Sitgreaves National Forest, in 
northern Arizona. 31 The run-off from road ruts is diverted by a low 
mound across the road and conveyed through a short ditch to the 
reservoir. The reservoirs are small and are usually built on a gentle 
slope below a steeper slope, as shown in Figure 8. The run-off from 
a large area of hillside can thus be obtained. Road ruts are much 
more successful conveyors of such run-off than plowed ditches, be¬ 
cause traffic on the road k^eps them packed hard and free of vege¬ 
tation. 


CONSTRUCTION OF RESERVOIRS. 


Useful as the reservoirs or represos of the Papagos are, both to 
the Indians and to the wayfarer, their usefulness is impaired by 
faulty construction. In general a Papago represo consists of an 
earth dam constructed with scrapers, more or less irregular in height 
and width and having a horseshoe shape. The material of the em¬ 
bankment is taken from the upstream side, thus increasing the ca¬ 
pacity of the reservoir. In many represos the only water stored is 
held in the borrow pits, because the ends of the embankment do not 
continue far enough up the slope to hold any considerable quantity 
of water. (See Fig. 9.) The embankment also is made with a very 
steep slope on both sides and usually has no wave protection. 


.u Personal communication from Hugh M. Bryan, formerly grazing examiner, U. S. 
Forest Service. 





56 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 





Earth \ 
.reservoirs 




Earth. 

reservoir 




31 Hermann, F. C., Small reservoirs in Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota : U. S. 
Dept. Agr. Office Ex per. Sta. Bull. 170, 1007. 


Direction of flow 
<-—- 


r, $ 

urf< 


Embank¬ 

ment, 


ace 


av ation 


/Position and height of embankment 
I extending upstream^ 

^Maximum water level 


Original 

/Surface 


t 00 Feet 


Figure 0.—Profile through typical Papago represo. 

windward side of the dam. Protection against waves can be made 
by riprapping with rock or brush or by building a wave fence. 


A properly designed earth dam should have a flat slope on the 
water face of not over 1 in 3. On the rear fac^ the slope may be as 
steep as 1 in H. A firm bond to the underlying ground should be 

obtained by removing all 
vegetation and loose soil 
for at least 6 inches, dig¬ 
ging a trench at least 2 
feet deep and 6 feet wide, 
and filling it with new ma¬ 
terial similar to the rest 
of the dam. On many 
adobe flats, however, sim¬ 
ple plowing will be suffi¬ 
cient. The crest of the 
dam should not be less 
than 5 feet above the bot¬ 
tom of the spillway, ex¬ 
cept in a small reservoir, 
where a height of 3 feet is 
sufficient. A type of cross 
section that has proved 
successful in Wyoming 
and South Dakota 52 is 
shown in Figure 10. 


60 


150 


200 FEET 


PROTECTION OF THE EM¬ 
BANKMENT. 

Contour interval 5 feet 

An earth dam should be 
protected by a fence from 
loose stock, which destroy the smooth slopes and often wear trails 
deep enough to lower the dam considerably. In a large reservoir 
waves rapidly erode the dam, especially if the water body lies on the 


Figure 8. —Idealized map showing use of run-off from 
road nits and relation of reservoirs to slope. 










































TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 57 

A wave fence 33 is constructed of 1-inch boards 8 feet long pointed 
at the end and driven into the embankment at liigh-water level. 
The boards are given a slope about 1 in 5 away from the water and 
driven in as close together as possible, about 3 feet in the ground. 
The fence should be made rigid by two strings of 1 by 10 inch board, 
one nailed near the top and the other near the bottom of the fence. 
Braces fastened to deadmen should also be installed. Wave fences 
are very effective and with ordinary repairs will last seven or 
eight years. 

Brush protection of the face of the dam, if properly constructed, 
is as good as a wave fence, and the large quantities of mesquite, 
palo verde, and creosote brush available in most localities in south¬ 
western Arizona make this the natural and cheapest thing to use. 
The brush should be made up in bundles about 1 foot in diameter 
and of any convenient standard length. At least two layers of 
bundles should be laid at right angles to each other on the face of 
the dam, and the whole should be firmly wired to strong stakes 



o s to 20 3oFeet- 

Linil_I_I-1 

Figure 10.'—Cross section of earth dam. 

driven into the dam. This form of brush protection will probably 
be more effective than the brush fences that have been used on a 
number of dams. 

DIVERSION DAMS AND PROTECTION OF SPILLWAY CHANNELS. 

Diversion dams in rocky channels can easily be constructed of 
plank or cribbing or, where the expense is justified, of masonry. In 
channels where no firm foundation exists diversion dams are usually 
constructed of brush and rock held in place by strong stakes. Such 
dams are likely to be washed out by any flood. If the washout oc¬ 
curs during the only flood of the year that is sufficient to fill the 

reservoir the consequences are serious. 

W. E. Kibbey, formerly of the La Osa Land & Loan Co., has used 
with success for a number of years the structure illustrated in 
Figure 11. The channel is cleared of loose sand, and the banks are 
cut in sufficiently to give a good bond. The largest logs obtainable 
are then laid end to end across the channel at the toe of the dam. 


23 Hermann, F. C., op. cit., p. 30. 







































58 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


( v 

Mesquite trees and large branches, each so trimmed that one branch 
makes a hook at the end, are laid over the logs with the branches 
upstream, and the hooks are forced down over the logs as shown 
in the diagram. The dam is raised by laying successive rows of 
logs, breaking the joints and holding each row in place with brush. 
Each row lies upstream from the last, so that the face of the dam 
has a slope that tends to break the force of the flowing water. The 
crest should slope from the banks to the center, so as to divert the 
water away from the ends of the dam. The upstream end of the 
dam is covered with earth, and each flood augments this material 
up to the level of the top of the dam. It is obvious that as water 
hows over the dam the transverse logs can not be loosened and 
carried away, because they are held by the brush, and if the toe of 
the dam is undermined the somewhat flexible structure will settle, 
without, however, shifting in position. If the dam settles so far 
as to be ineffective it may be built higher by adding one or more 
additional layers. 


"''-^Earth fill 
\ 

\ 

s 

\ 

inal surface 

0 S 10 feet 

*---1-1-1-1-1 

Figure 11.—Diagram showing the use of logs and brush for diversion dams and 

spillways. 

A reservoir that is built without a wasteway in the expectation that 
it will hold all the flood discharge of a stream may have such a struc¬ 
ture built at one end of the dam. It can be completely covered with 
dirt and in the damp soil will rot very slowly. By leaving this part 
of the crest low or by opening with a shovel, a safe emergency spill¬ 
way will be available for any exceptional flood that may threaten 
the dam. 

Erosion in wasteways due to abnormally steep grades often 
menaces reservoirs. Where the site does not provide a rock spillway 
the waste water may cut a channel which, beginning in a sharp cliff, 
works up the spillway channel with great rapidity. A structure 
somewhat similar to the one just described has been used as a water 
drop to prevent such erosion. 34 Figure 12 is a cross section of this 
structure, which was built of brush and old railroad iron. The 
larger posts were old boiler flues, and the smaller stakes old bolts and 
fish plates. The brush was made up in bundles about a foot thick, with 
wire binding, and the bundles were wired to one another and to the 
stakes. Where mesquite is plentiful, mesquite posts Avould probably 



84 Hermann, F. C., op. cit., p. 33, pi. 7, fig. 1. 

















TYPES OF SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES. 


59 

be cheaper and as serviceable. By concentrating the fall at one 
point the grades of the other parts of the channel are reduced suffi¬ 
ciently to prevent erosion. 

DEBRIS-FILLED RESERVOIRS AND ARTIFICIAL SPRINGS. 

ADVANTAGES. 

Throughout southwestern Arizona evaporation from water bodies 
is excessive and the annual loss in open reservoirs is more than 5 
feet. This loss is serious in small reservoirs and, together with the use 
of water by stray stock and wild animals, makes many rock tanks un¬ 
certain water supplies. Sand tanks of the same size do not suffer 
these losses and with proper protection are more sanitary. If 
reservoirs full of clean sand and gravel could be constructed, they 
would also have these advantages, though their water capacity 


Direction o/Y/oyy 



Figure 12.—Diagram showing construction of a water drop to prevent erosion in a 

channel. 

would be less than a fourth of that of ordinary reservoirs. General 
plans for such reservoirs are proposed in the following paragraphs, 
in the hope that they may be a guide in constructing watering places 
in localities where other water supplies are difficult to obtain. 

METHODS ©T CONSTRUCTION. 

The filling of such a reservoir must be composed of clean rock 
particles, preferably of nearly the same size, in order that the maxi¬ 
mum porosity may be attained. To reduce expense the dam should 
be so constructed as to permit the accumulation of the filling under 
natural processes as far as possible. 

In southwestern Arizona proper material for filling such reser¬ 
voirs can be obtained only from streams in the mountains or in the 
belts of rocky plains around the mountains. In these localities the 
sands and gravels of the stream beds are clean and coarse and have 






















GO 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


about 25 per cent of pore space. An ordinary dam thrown across 
such a stream checks the current so much that not only sand and 
gravel but mud also is deposited. To obtain debris freed of mud for 
the reservoir, the dam must be built up gradually, the current be¬ 
ing allowed to rework the accumulation of each flood, or else a 
dam must be constructed that will check the current only enough to 
hold the coarse material and will let the finer material go through. 

A dam that may be built up gradually was constructed in Cali¬ 
fornia of boulders held in wire baskets. Chicken-yard netting of 2- 
inch mesh and No. 14 gage galvanized-iron wire was used to inclose 
bundles of boulders, which were 2 feet wide, 1 foot thick, and 8 feet 
long. The bundles were laid side by side along the dam. In the 
second layer the bundles were staggered and lapped 4 feet inside 
the lower edge of the first layer. The outer downstream slope was 
thus 1 on 6; the inner slope was 1 on 2. The dam was 150 feet long 
and 35 feet high and resisted not only the weight of the debris 
behind it but a continuous overflow of flood water for a period of 
five weeks. 35 Such a dam built up by adding one to three layers 
after each flood would be very effective and easy to construct. Its 
life is, of course, dependent on the time necessary to rust the wire 
netting and on the wear on the netting by boulders tumbled over the 
face of the dam. Individual baskets can be replaced, however, and 
when it becomes necessary a whole new face can be constructed. 

There are also in many mountain ranges places where the moun¬ 
tain streams after running on comparatively flat grades narrow and 
then run on steep grades. These narrows are natural dam sites, and 
many of them are bordered by high cliffs. It seems probable that 
without much drilling, but bj^ taking advantage of open cracks and 
joints, the cliffs could be blasted down into the narrows. The mass of 
material thrown down would be of all sizes, but many of the blocks 
would be too large for the stream to move even in its greatest floods. 
As many blocks as possible should be obtained. By shifting the ma¬ 
terial and relaying it, especially on the downstream face of the dam, 
the larger fragments could be made to protect the smaller. Floods 
on striking this dam would flow through but with diminished velocity. 
The sand and gravel which they carried would be largely deposited in 
and behind the dam, while the mud would be carried through. Fig¬ 
ure 13 is a diagram showing a cross section of a dam of this type, 
somewhat more regular in form than is strictly necessary, though an 
effort should be made to have the downstream face as flat as possible. 
A dam of this type merely reproduces the conditions found in many 
canyons, where great boulders' too large for the stream to carry 
block the channel and cause sand and gravel to accumulate behind 


85 rainier, L. A., A novel d6bris clam: Min. and Sci. Press, July 10, 1915, pp. 43-46, 



61 


GILA RIVER. 

ihem. The larger the blocks blasted down the more successful the 
project is likely to be. Such a rock-fill dam can be blasted down in 
a short time and with only a few men. On this account the project 
could be undertaken at distant and inaccessible spots, where the cost 
of transportation of water and supplies is great. 

The reservoir once filled with debris is stable unless the rocks of 
the dam are loosened during floods, and at each flood the debris will 
be saturated with water. The water will seep out at the toe of the 
dam as a spring for a shorter or longer time, depending on the 
volume of the reservoir and the porosity of the material that fills 
it. The size of the reservoir is regulated by local conditions but 
should be as large as possible. The porosity of the material will be 
somewhat less than 25 per cent, and the size of the pore spaces will 
depend on the size and arrangement of the rock particles. These 
conditions can be controlled in part during the process of filling. 



Horizontal and vertical scale 

0 10 ZjO 30 40 £0 FCCT 


Figure 13.—Diagram showing rock-fill dam for an artificial reservoir. 

However, it is impossible to predict what size of pore space will be 
large enough to absorb water rapidly and yet allow the same water 
to flow out with sufficient slowness to produce a perennial spring. 

There is no question that the structure described above will pro¬ 
duce a spring. The risk in constructing it lies in the possibility that 
the spring may have so large a flow as to exhaust the reservoir within 
a month or two after each flood. 

GILA RIVER. 

Much has been written about Gila River, yet much remains not 
only unsaid but unknown. In spite of the considerable amounts 
of money, skill, and energy that have been expended on the study 
of various problems connected with this stream, many of the most 
fundamental questions with regard to it remain unanswered. Dur¬ 
ing the present investigation the lower portion of Gila River was 
examined and additional information in regard to some of these 
questions has been obtained. In this account the data so collected, 
together with some of the general data previously published, have 
been assembled. The information available is too scattered and in¬ 
complete to permit the final solution of many of the problems. 























62 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Enough is known, however, to afford a partial history of the varied 
events in the life of the stream. It is hoped that the facts stated 
and theories advanced herein may be of some value in future investi¬ 
gations of the river. 

GENERAL FEATURES. 

Gila River, in its course of more than 500 miles from its source in 
New Mexico to its junction with Colorado River at Yuma, Ariz., 
passes through country of several widely different types. The Gila 
itself is formed by the junction of the streams in Whitewater and 
Whitetail canyons at an altitude of about 7,500 feet above sea level, 
but Willow Creek, one of the headwater sources of its Middle Fork, 
rises in the rugged Mogollon Mountains, some distance farther west, 
at an altitude of 9,993 feet. The Mogollon Mountains form a 
pine-clad range culminating in Whitewater Baldy at an altitude of 
10,892 feet. The creeks that here coalesce to form the Middle Fork 
of Gila River have steep gradients and narrow valleys, and many 
of them are intermittent. From its source the Gila flows with many 
turns in a general westerly direction through a mountain region in 
New Mexico, in which the average annual rainfall ranges from over 
20 inches in the higher portions of the Mogollon Mountains to less 
than 15 inches at Gila, N. Mex. 36 The river enters Arizona about 113 
miles from its source and passes for 190 miles through a rough 
mountain country in a series of alternating narrow detritus-filled 
valleys and steep-sided rock canyons. In this region the annual rain¬ 
fall is about 12 inches. The character of the river changes markedlv 
westward from The Buttes, east of Florence, where it emerges from 
the mountain region. From this point throughout its westward 
course to the Colorado, except at a few places, it winds over deep 
deposits of alluvium in broad valleys between short and discontinu¬ 
ous mountain ranges. Descriptions of its course in these valleys 
are given below. The annual rainfall ranges from about 10 inches 
at Florence to less than 3 inches at Yuma. The river receives few 
tributaries of importance below the place where it leaves the moun¬ 
tains. Its volume steadily decreases, and in the lower 150 to 200 
miles of its course there are long stretches of its bed which are dry 
throughout much of the year. 

Until accurate topographic maps of the region drained by Gila 
River and its tributaries have been prepared, close estimates of its 
drainage area are impossible. Davis 37 estimates the total drainage 
area to be 72,000 square miles. Of the water that falls as rain on 
a 'large portion of this area, part is evaporated, part seeps down 


30 Rainfall data from records of U. S. Weather Bureau. 

37 Davis, A. P., Irrigation near Phoenix, Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply 
Paper 2, p. 16, 1S9T. 








GITA RIVER. 


63 


through the soil and becomes ground water, and only a fraction 
reaches the river. Part of the ground water eventually finds its 
way to the valley of Gila River and joins the underflow of that 
stream. A great deal of it is, however, used up by deep-rooted plants 
or by other means. 

The altitude of the river where it enters the Colorado is 125 feet 
above sea level. 38 Willow Creek rises at an altitude of 9,993 feet, 
and at The Buttes the altitude of the Gila is 1,592 feet. Conse¬ 
quently the fall in the course of 303 miles through the mountains 
is about 8,400 feet, and in the 266 miles through comparatively open 
country west of The Buttes the fall is 1,467 feet. 


TRIBUTARIES. 

Among the principal tributaries of Gila River are San Francisco, 
San Carlos, San Pedro, Santa Cruz, Salt, Hassayampa, and Agua 
Fria rivers. It receives also numerous creeks, especially near the 
source in New Mexico, and countless arroyos in which water flows 
only in response to exceptionally heavy rainfall. 

San Francisco River heads in New Mexico not far from the source 
of the Middle Fork of the Gila and flows in a general southwesterly 
direction through mountain canyons to its junction with Gila River 
about 12 miles below Clifton, Ariz. San Francisco River is over 
100 miles long and forms the principal source of water supply for 
the town of Clifton, for the mines and ore-dressing plants nearby, and 
for some irrigation. 30 It has a drainage area of 2,895 square miles, 40 
of which about one-fifth is covered with timber. The water north of 
Clifton is reported to be of excellent quality, but near that town 
it becomes more saline on account of the numerous tributary salt 
springs. The country near the source of the San Francisco 41 is 
extremely rough and broken, with narrow valleys and canyons. 
Erosion is proceeding at so rapid a rate, according to Olmstead, as 
to menace the life of the timber within its drainage basin. 

San Carlos River is an intermittent stream emptying into the Gila 
at San Carlos. It rises in several branches in the western part of 
Ash Flat Plateau and is about 30 miles long. The stream bed is 
dry a part of each year. 

San Pedro River rises in Mexico and flows in a direction a little 
west of north for about 170 miles to its junction with Gila River 


88 The altitudes given in this account are taken from United States Geological Survey 
topographic maps and the profiles of the Southern Tacific Railroad. The distances are 
taken from General Land Office maps of New Mexico and Arizona and from United 
States Geological Survey topographic maps, including the maps herewith, Tls. II-IV. 

39 Lindgrcn, Waldemar, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Clifton folio (No. 129), p. 
13, 1905. 

40 Olmstead, F. II., A report on flood control of the Gila River in Graham County, 
Ariz.: 65th Cong., 3d sess., S. Doc. 436, p. 64, 1919. 

41 Olmstead, F. II., op. cit., pp. 64, 65. 



64 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


near Winkelman. It is perennial 42 but, like all other streams in 
this general region, fluctuates greatly. The maximum recorded 
yearly run-off is 149,837 acre-feet at Fairbank, Ariz., in 1914, 43 and 
the minimum recorded at the same place is 25,500 acre-feet in 1943. 44 

Santa Cruz River is an intermittent stream that rises in southern 
Arizona east of the Patagonia Mountains, flows south into Mexico 
and then northwest, reentering Arizona near Nogales, and empties 
into Gila River near Gila Crossing. It has a total length of more 
than 200 miles. But little water flows from the Santa Cruz into 
the Gila except during floods. At Tucson the total discharge of 
Santa Cruz River was 57,200 acre-feet in 1914 and 24,700 acre-feet 
in 1915. 45 Nearly all of this water is evaporated or sinks into the 
ground before reaching Gila River. 

Salt River is the largest tributary of the Gila. It rises in the 
mountainous region of southern Apache County, Ariz., and flows 
for over 200 miles in a southwesterly direction to its junction with 
Gila River below Phoenix. Its course lies in a mountainous region, 
which in most places has an annual rainfall of considerably more 
than 10 inches. Roosevelt Reservoir, which has the largest dam for 
the storage of water for irrigation so far made, is on this stream. 
The run-off of Salt River near Roosevelt was 629,500 acre-feet in 
1914, and 1,440,100 acre-feet in 1915. 46 

Below the mouth of Salt River no perennial streams enter the Gila. 
Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers are the only ones in which water 
flows at the surface except in immediate response to heavy rains. 
These streams are described on pages 36-38. 

GILA RIVER IN EARLY DAYS. 

The accounts of the early explorers and even of old settlers still 
living in the region show that Gila River has changed materially 
since it was first seen by white men. At one time it contained more 
water and had a more luxuriant vegetation along its banks than 
now. 

The available accounts of the early Spanish explorers do not con¬ 
tain definite estimates of the amount of water in Gila River, but 
it is evident that they regarded the stream as a reliable watering 
place for their expeditions, some of which were large and included 
herds of live stock. The writings of Father Kino, 47 one of the 

42 U. S. Geol. Survey Twelfth Ann. Report, pt. 2, p. 305, 1891. 

43 U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 389, p. 1G9, 1917 ; Water-Supply Paper 400. 
p. 199, 1918. 

44 U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 359, p. 230, 1916. 

46 U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 389, p. 172, 1917 ; Water-Supply Paper 409, 
p. 208, 1918; Water-Supply Paper 439, p. 170, 1919. 

46 U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 389, p. 176, 1917 ; Water-Supply Paper 409, 
p. 212, 1918; Water-Supply Paper 439, p. 173, 1919. 

47 Bolton, H. E., Kino’s Historical memoir of Pimerfa Alta, vol. 1, 1919. 



GILA RIVER. 


65 


earliest and most enterprising of the Jesuit missionaries, contain 
numerous references to the river, some of which are here quoted. 
In regard to Gila River near the present town of Wellton he writes, 
“ This Rio Grande we named Rio de los Santos Apostoles. To this 
it may be added that all its inhabitants are fishermen and have 
many nets and other tackle, with which they fish all the year, 
sustaining themselves with abundant fish and with their maize, 
beans, and calabashes.' 5 On November 6, 1700, Kino was near Well- 
ton going toward Dome and says: “ On the way they gave us great 
quantities of fish, both raw and cooked; for, although they had 
their little fields of maize, beans, calabashes, and watermelons, 
the beans and maize were not yet ripe. 5 ’ A year later he states: 
“ On the 17th [of November] we set out from San Pedro westward 
for San Dionisio, a great rancheria at the confluence of the Rio 
Grande de Hyla and the very large Rio Colorado; and, having 
crossed the Rio Grande on horseback by the only ford which it had in 
that vicinity, with a following of more than 200 Yumas and 
Pimas from San Pedro, at nightfall we arrived in safety at San 
Dionisio, where also they received us with great affection.” San 
Pedro is near the site of Wellton, and the ford mentioned is near the 
present town of Dome. 

Fish still exist in Gila River and are occasionally caught, but they 
form no considerable part of the food of those who live on the banks 
of the stream. The few that are obtained are generally caught in 
small pools in the otherwise dry river channel during dry seasons. 
Fishing in the Gila is now considered to be rather a useful amuse¬ 
ment for boys than an occupation for men. The river can be forded 
by horses in many places in this vicinity without difficulty except 
during times of unusually high water, which would not be expected 
in November. 

Emory 48 makes several references to Gila River. On November 
9, 1846, when he was at or near The Buttes, east of the present 
site of Florence, he wrote, “ The Gila at this point, released from its 
mountain barrier, flows off quietly at the rate of 3 miles an hour 
into a wide plain.” At the Pima village near the junction of Gila 
and Salt rivers he wrote, “ The bed of the Gila, opposite the village, 
is said to be dry, the whole water being drawn off by the zequias 
of the Pimas for irrigation; but the ditches are larger than is neces¬ 
sary for this purpose, and the water which is not used returns to 
the bed of the river with little apparent diminution in its volume.” 
On November 14 he wrote that the course of the Gila is marked 
by green cottonwoods. On November 17, when he was perhaps 
somewhere between Agua Caliente and Palomas, he wrote, “ The 

*a Emory, W. H., Notes of a military reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth in Mis¬ 
souri to San Diego in California: 30th Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 167, 1848. 



66 


LOWER GILA REG [OX, ARIZONA. 

4 

bottoms of the river are wide, rich, and thickly overgrown with 
willow and a tall aromatic weed, and alive with flights of white 
brant, geese, and ducks, with many signs of deer and beaver.*’ The 
bottoms on this portion of the river at present are desolate wastes 
of sand and silt with clumps and thickets of arrow weed, which 
looks dry and almost dead during large portions of the year. The 
game mentioned by Emory has long since departed. On November 
18 he wrote, “We found the river spread over a greater surface, 
about 100 yards wide, and flowing gently along a sandy bottom, the 
banks fringed with cane, willow, and myrtle." In describing the 
junction of Gila and Colorado rivers, Emory speaks of the “ sea- 
green waters ” of the Gila as contrasted with the “ chrome-colored 
hue of the Colorado.*' By no stretch of the imagination could the 
present-day mud-laden water of the Gila be considered “ sea-green." 

The Pimas, the Maricopas, and some Papagos lived in the valley 
of Gila River and supported themselves by raising irrigated crops, 
There are said to have been about 6,000 Indians on the Gila in 1742. 49 
A like number could not now grow sufficient food for their own use 
by the primitive methods of agriculture then employed. Of course, 
a large part of the decrease in water in Gila River below Salt River 
is the result of taking out water for irrigation farther upstream on 
the Gila and its tributaries, but this can not account for all of the 
change which appears to have taken place. 

On November 1, 1849, 50 a flatboat reached Colorado River at the 
present site of Yuma. It had made the voyage down Gila River 
from the Pima villages, carrying three men and the family of one 
of them. This boat was 16 feet lono- by 5 feet 6 inches wide. It was 

o 

used for some time as a ferry across Colorado River. A boat of this 
size, carrying so many people with their baggage, could not float 
down this portion of the Gila now at any season. During floods the 
current is too swift and during the rest of the year there is insuffi¬ 
cient water. This boat was equipped with wheels for use on land. 
If it attempted the trip to-day, it would have to forsake the river 
and resort to its wheels very promptly. In October, when this trip 
is reported to have been made, long stretches of the river bed are 
usually dry, as the summer rains are over, and those of the winter 
have not yet started. 

More recent information is furnished by Mr. John Montgomery, a 
ranchman residing in Arlington, who has had many years’ experi¬ 
ence in southwestern Arizona. He states 51 that in the summer of 
1889, when a boy of 12, he was in camp near Powers Butte, on Gila 

49 Hodge, F. W., Handbook of American Indians: Bur. Am. Ethnology Bull 30 pt 1 
p. 806, 1910. 

60 Bancroft, H. II., History of Arizona and New Mexico, p. 489, 1889. 

51 Personal communication. 




GILA RIVER. 


67 


River. At that time the river had a well-defined channel with hard, 
sloping banks lined with cottonwoods and bushes. The water was 
clear, was 5 or 6 feet deep, and contained many fish. The grazing 
lands near the river were in much better condition then than now. 
Several varieties of grass then abundant have since died out. Mr. 
Montgomery attributes the change in the character of the river 
largely to the practice of cattlemen of burning the heavy brush that 
once covered its banks in order to drive out wild cattle which had 
sought shelter there. This destroyed the natural protection and left 
the soft silty soil exposed to rapid erosion. The disastrous floods of 
1890 and 1891 did much to break down the river’s confining banks, 
partly filled the channel with sediment, and in general interfered 
with the equilibrium that had been established. 

Mr. Millett, who, in conjunction with Mr. Montgomery and others, 
has had the direction of the Enterprise canal and dam, states 52 that, 
in his opinion, based on observations at the dam, aggradation in the 
Gila is increasing at this place. He states also that when the water 
flowing in the canal is comparatively clear the grade is 2 or ?> feet 
to the mile, but that when the water carries a heavy load of sand, 
the grade established is 4 or 5 feet to the mile. These statements 
are based on his own level measurements and indicate that the grades 
in the canal are the same as those in the river channel under like 
conditions. 


GILA RIVER VALLEY BELOW SALT RIVER. 


BUCKEYE VALLEY. 

Buckeye Valley, which lies just west of the land irrigated under 
the Salt River project, is in general appearance a typical detritus- 
filled valley of the desert region. Irrigation by means of the Buck¬ 
eye and other canals and by wells has demonstrated that it has large 
agricultural possibilities, but it still contains many hundred acres of 
unreclaimed land. Much of the unreclaimed land is on the north 
side, where the land slopes upward toward the White Tank Moun¬ 
tains. Near these mountains the surface is in part mantled with 
gravel, which would make cultivation difficult, but much of the soil 
is such as to give promise of rich returns to the farmer, if it could be 
supplied with water. Irrigation from the river is obviously impos¬ 
sible for much of this land, as it lies at too high an altitude. The 
wells already put down, however, show that large stores of ground 
water exist in the valley, and much of what is now desert waste will 
doubtless eventually be converted into productive farm land by 


62 Personal communication. 
49417—23-6 




68 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


means of water obtained from wells. The failure of some projects 
north of Buckeye and Palo Verde shows that success in such a ven¬ 
ture will not come easily nor to any but able and experienced men. 

Well records show that the alluvium in the vicinity of Buckeye, 
north of the river, is more than 250 feet deep. Probably the maximum 
depth is much more than this, perhaps several times as much. The 
river itself, however, does not flow over deep alluvium. Outcrops 
of granitic bedrock project through the alluvium at numerous places 
close to the river in the district irrigated by the Gila Water & Land 
Co. At Liberty such outcrops are said to occur on both sides of the 
river. It is probable that the course of the river has shifted to the 
south in recent geologic time and thus become superimposed on a 
bedrock shelf extending out from the Sierra Estrella and the Buck¬ 
eye Hills. (See the diagrammatic section in PI. XI, 1.) 

The river in Buckeye Valley wanders over a sandy flood plain 
between cut banks 5 to 15 feet high. The flood plain varies in 
width but is a mile or more wide in most places. The water meanders 
in shifting channels and does not cover more than a small part 
of its flood plain except during unusually great floods. During 
the drier seasons there is no flow in the river near Buckeye, the 
water being restricted to pools in the otherwise dry channels. As 
is indicated in the section (PL XI, 1), unconsolidated sand and 
silt deposited by the river in recent geologic time have a considerable 
lateral extent beyond the banks that confine the stream except 
during large floods. Part of this material is deposited during 
the erratic and powerful floods for which Gila River is noted, but 
much of it antedates the present cycle of erosion, having been laid 
down before the existing banks of the river were cut. 

Between the river and the Buckeye Hills, on the south, is an 
irregular and poorly defined gravel terrace. This marks the bound¬ 
ary between the fine-grained recent deposits and the coarser older 
alluvium, described on page 26. Xo such terrace exists on the north 
side of the stream, where the boundary between the two formations 
is not marked by any prominent topographic break. The Buckeye 
canal is approximately on or near this boundary. South of the canal 
are soft silt and sand. North of it gravel and caliche appear in 
the soil and increase gradually in amount at greater distances from 
Gila River. No outcrops of the older portion of the Quaternary 
alluvium are known either in or near Buckeye Valley. It is prob¬ 
able that deposits of this age are buried under the alluvium of inter¬ 
mediate age in the deeper portions of the valley. The material 
penetrated by some of the wells of the Southwest Cotton Co. north 
of Avondale may be old. (See pp. 85-88.) 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
N. 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XI 

5. 




, < 
UJ (L 

ir id 
a-r 
< 
u 


/V. 


Point of Rocks 
CrilaR. 


SEA 
LEV'EL 


- 1 , 000 -j 


Sentinel lava plain 


I* 

S3®- 

cnk 




Section from Point of Rocks to Sentinel 


ENQ RAVED AMD PRINTED BYTME VJ S-OEOLOCICAL SURVEY 


4 MILES 


DIAGRAMMATIC CROSS SECTIONS AT VARIOUS PLACES ON THE LOWER GILA RIVER 


TERTIARY QUATERNARY 










































































































' 

■ . 

























































U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 49S PLATE XI] 





40417—23. 


(Face p. OS.) 











































TJv BUS .l/'HOOJOffO .8 .u 
























































































































































Kl 6/U:U kt lSf m i<l HO k». 1 .'HIM/fin 

























































GILA RIVER. 


69 


ARLINGTON VALLEY. 

1 * 

A small valley bounded by the Buckeye Hills, Palo Verde Hills, 
and Gila Bend Mountains is known as Arlington Valley. The 
ground lying below the pronounced terrace on the right side of 
the river is in part irrigated from the Arlington canal and yields 
good crops of forage plants, but no attempt has yet been made to 
farm above the terrace near Arlington. Although much of the 
land is gravel covered, some of it, perhaps most of it, may some day 
bo put under cultivation when changing conditions justify the! 
expenditures necessary to supply it with water. Such wells as 
have been drilled in this general locality to supply water for cattle 
have not yielded very large quantities of water. 

Gila River makes a turn of nearly 90° in Arlington Valley. The 
character of its channel in the valley itself is similar to that in 
Buckeye \ alley. At both ends the channel is restricted by rock 
walls. At the northeast end of the valley Powers Butte is on the 
left bank of the river, and Arlington Mesa is but a short distance 
north of the right bank. (See PI. XI, 2.) At the south end the 
southwestern extremity of the Buckeye Hills is on the left bank, 
and a hill sometimes referred to as Woolsey Butte is on the right 
bank. (See PI. XI, 3.) At both these localities the present channel 
of the river is but a short distance above bedrock. At the north¬ 
east end the Tertiary lava and sandstone of Powers Butte form the 
left bank and extend under the river for at least a portion of its 
width. At the other end of the valley the headgate of the Enterprise 
canal is founded on rock, and this undoubtedly extends across the 
stream at no great depth below the surface. It is reported 83 that 
during periods of maximum scour bedrock appears in midstream. 
This rock is almost certainty similar to that of the hills on both 
sides, which are composed of lava, sandstone, and conglomerate of 
Tertiary age. In the central portion of the valley no outcrops of 
rock are known near the channel of Gila River. Probably the river 
here Rows over a considerable thickness of alluvium, but as only 
shallow wells have been sunk near the river little information is 
available from that source. The A. Iv. well, in sec. 32, T. 1 S., 
R. 5. W., is 150 feet deep and bottomed in red clay. This well 
is only a mile west of the river. (See p. 84.) 

On the left side of the river no terraces above the cut bank of the 
flood plain exist at either end of Arlington Valley, and none were 
observed at any other place. On the right side of the river well- 
defined but somewhat discontinuous terraces were found, including a 
gravel terrace bordering Arlington Mesa, a low basalt mesa at the 
northeast end of the valley, and several discontinuous terraces and 


M Personal communication from Mr. Millett. 




70 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


eroded portions of terraces between the lava eminence north of 
Arlington and the mesa west of the Gillespie dam. The material 
composing these terraces is probably of intermediate age. Many of 
the pebbles are composed of Tertiary lava and are probably derived 
from the neighboring mountains. 

VICINITY OF ARLINGTON MESA. 

Hassayampa River empties into Gila River a short distance east 
of Arlington Mesa. The terrace that borders this stream on the 
west swings sharply toward the channel a short distance north of the 
mesa and trends southeast, gradually dying out along the edge of 
the basalt. It appears likely that the lava antedates the formation 
of the terrace. In Hassayampa Plain there is a gently sloping 
gravel-covered ridge. Between Arlington Mesa and the basalt butte 
northwest of Arlington is a depression floored with fine silt, in 
places coated with a white alkaline or saline deposit. The depres¬ 
sion is bounded on the east by the abrupt wall of Arlington Mesa. 
On the north and northeast is the gravel ridge referred to above. 
On the northwest is a distinct but irregular terrace, which fingers 
out at one place in a ridge extending several hundred feet into the 
depression. West of the depression is the basalt butte, with a ter¬ 
race about 10 or 15 feet high at its base, which connects with that on 
the northwest. The depression is closed on the southwest and south 
by a hummocky ridge of silt and sand extending southeastward from 
the butte on the west. There is an opening in this ridge on the south¬ 
east through which the depression is drained by means of several 
small irregular washes. 

• 

GILLESPIE DAM SITE. 

The Enterprise canal was originally'Constructed in 1886 as a part 
of the Peoria canal systeni. In 1906 it was taken over by the owners 
of the Enterprise ranch, who cleaned it out and regraded it. Each 
year they built earth and brush dams across the Gila at the old 
Peoria dam site to divert water into their canal. Such dams are of 
course easily washed out by even a small flood, but they are easily, 
quickly, and economically built or repaired. A concrete dam called 
the Gillespie dam has since been constructed here by the Gila 
Water Co. 

« 

This dam site is one of the very few places on the lower Gila 
where there are bedrock abutments on both sides of the stream and 
bedrock at no great depth all the way across the channel. Here, as 
elsewhere along its course, the river has scoured out a deep valley 
and then, in a later cycle, filled this valley with alluvium. No direct 


GILA RIVER. 


71 


evidence is available as to the depth of the fill in this portion of the 
valley. Wells a short distance north of the dam site show that the 
fill there is certainly more than 150 feet deep. When the erosion and 
Subsequent filling took place the river in the vicinity of the dam site 
flowed farther west, probably as much as 2 miles, than it does at 
present. During the period of volcanic activity, which was wide¬ 
spread in Arizona in early Quaternary time, a mass of basaltic lava 
flowed down from the Gila Bend Mountains and across the valley 
of the river until it lapped against the west end of the Buckeye Hills, 
damming the Gila and producing a temporary lake. There are dis¬ 
continuous terraces in Arlington Valley, some of which are 4 miles 
from the present channel of the Gila. These clearly indicate a change 
of some sort in the drainage. The shores of this lake can not now be 
traced with certainty, but there is some evidence on the edges of the 
basalt hills north of Arlington that the lake extended to that place. 
The west end of the Buckeye Hills is composed of thin beds of lava, 
probably andesite, interbedded with red sedimentary rocks that range 
from sandy shale to conglomerate with angular pebbles as much as 
6 inches long. The age of these strata is probably Tertiary. The 
geologic section shown in Plate XI, 3, will aid in making the relations 
at the dam site clear. Plate XIII is made from a photograph of the 
ground through which this section is drawn. 

The river cut a new channel through the most western of the 
Buckeye Hills. It is possible that there is a fault or break in the 
strata at this point. Such a structural weakness might materially 
aid the river in its work of cutting a way around the lava dam that 
had trapped it. Eventually this channel became sufficiently deep 
to drain the lake. 


OLD COURSE OF GILA RIVER. 

It is probable that when Gila Biver was dammed by the lava flow 
at the Peoria dam site a large part of the water escaped westward 
through the pass now utilized by the old road through the Gila Bend 
Mountains. During this period the river did not make the long 
swing to the south around these mountains as it does now and as it 
did before the lava blocked it. Such a hypothesis seems to offer 
the only probable explanation of the remarkable terraces 20 to 50 
feet high and a, quarter of a mile to 1 mile apart along the wash 
that issues from the pass containing the old road on the southwest 
side of the mountains. The present wash is entirely inadequate 
to have cut such terraces. This wash does not head, as would lie 
expected, in the mountains, but extends through them and heads in 
a partly inclosed valley on the northeast side. The divide between, 
the water flowing northeast to the Gila near Arlington and that 


72 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


flowing southwest to the Gila west of Gila Bend is in this small 
valley, which may be called Webb Valley, after the w r ell of that 
name in it. 

VICINITY OF ENTERPRISE RANCH. 

The country on both sides of Gila River in the vicinity of the En¬ 
terprise ranch was examined with some care. There is a marked 
difference in the character of the opposite sides of the valley at this 
place. (See diagrammatic cross section, PI. XI, 4.) The cut 
banks that border the present flood plain of the river are higher than 
the average. At the point at which it was crossed during this ex¬ 
amination the western bank is 2 or 3 feet high and the eastern bank 
10 or 15 feet and even more. These relative heights of the two banks 
are reversed at places near by. On the east side the valley floor 
slopes gently and continuously up to the mountains, with no ter¬ 
race above the cut bank just mentioned. On the west side several 
breaks in the slope occur. The first is a fairly continuous and well 
defined terrace, 14 miles from the river. About an equal distance 
west of this is another series of breaks, which do not form a con¬ 
tinuous terrace, but the gravel-covered spurs projecting out from the 
borders of the mountains are abruptly truncated. The benches 
thus formed are about 500 feet on the average from the outer border 
of the mountains. At this border there is another and even less 
continuous set of benches, cut in rock instead of in valley fill. These 
benches are not in perfect alinement with one another, and they 
show considerable differences in altitude within short distances, 
suggesting that some or all of them are the result of recent minor 
faulting, or have been disturbed by such faulting subsequent to their 
formation. The irregularities noted do not, however, seem to be 
sufficient to preclude the production of the benches by unequal cutting 
of projecting spurs or alluvial fans by the river. 

The cross section on Plate XI (No. 4) shows in a general way 
what is known in regard to the geology of this portion of the valley 
of Gila River. The only data available in regard to underground 
conditions are those afforded by the logs of the two wells at the 
Enterprise ranch. These are given in the table below. The deeper 
well was abandoned because the water found was too saline. The 
water in the other well is not good but can be used for drinking. 
The driller is reported to have been firmly convinced that the aban¬ 
doned well bottomed in solid granite and not merely in a granite 
boulder. This is entirely possible, there being ample room on either 
side of the Enterprise ranch for the deep alluvium-filled valley 
known to exist elsewhere along the course of the Gila. That such a 
filled valley exists here is very probable, but the evidence is insuffi¬ 
cient to indicate its location. 


GILA RIVER. 


73 


Logs of wells at Enterprise ranch. 


Well in NW. J NW. \ SE. \ sec. 24, T. 3 S, R. 5 W. 


' . ... 

Thickness. 

Depth. 

Sand and gravel. 

Feet. 

16 

33 

151 

Feet. 

16 

49 

491 

65 

Caliche... 

Sand and gravel. 

Quicksand”. 



Well in SW. i SW. J SE. J sec. 24, T. 3 S., R. 5 W. 


Sand and gravel. 

16 

16 

Caliche... 

64 

80 

Granite in bottom. 


GILA BEND. 

Near Gila Bend the river passes around the southern extremity 
of the Gila Bend Mountains, making a turn of more than 90°. At 
one place in this bend the stream cuts through an outlying hill 
which, unlike the main mass of the Gila Bend Mountains in this 


S. 

ELEVATION 
6 30 


^ Probable high-water level ~~7ST^face~Dec f9i3~ 
ssurn ed de'ptK of sc oij'rd uriri^ _rriai imun fj oodVi lil • ~ ^'■ 

;v; w' ; ' 


610 

390 

570 


y/////7777777TKr^T 



Bedrock 




200 


300 Feet 


Figure 14. —Cross section of Gila River at Gila Bend, showing test holes. 


vicinity, is composed of bedded rocks consisting in part, at least, of 
basalt, probably of Tertiary age. Borings made during an in¬ 
vestigation by the Indian Office in connection with a proposed dam 
at this place show that bedrock is less than 160 feet below the sur¬ 
face at any place in the channel. (See Fig. 14.) 'The deep wells 
drilled by the Southern Pacific Co. at Gila Bend show that the 
alluvium at that place is hundreds of feet thick. These relations 
are shown in the cross section (PI. XI, 5), and the geologic map 
(PI. VI). (For a further discussion of the railroad wells at Gila 
Bend see pp. 79-80, 82-84.) 

The river between Gila Bend and the north end of the Painted 
Kock Mountains was not examined during this investigation. The 
township plats show terraces bordering the river on both sides. 
These are in places over 6 miles apart. They are doubtless portions 
of the principal set of terraces which border the river throughout 
most of the distance from its mouth at Yuma at least as far east as 
Buckeye. Between the terraces are the flood-plain silt and sand. 
Portions of this bottom land are cultivated by Papago Indians. 






















































74 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


There have been several attempts at the installation of more exten¬ 
sive irrigation systems by white men, but none have yet been success¬ 
ful. (See pp. 100-101.) The land south of the terrace is silty and 
sandy with but little gravel except near the border of the Painted 
Eock Mountains. Unsuccessful attempts have also been made to 
irrigate this area. On the north side the Gila Bend Mountains are 
close to the river, and much of the land is probably covered with gravel. 

Gila Kiver passes between the northern tip of the Painted Eock 
Mountains and the south end of a spur of the Gila Bend Mountains 
in a gorge or canyon which, as seen from a distance, appears to be 
rather narrow. This is one of the few places on the lower portion 
of the river’s course where bedrock crops out close to the river on 
both sides. In 1882 an unsuccessful attempt was made to dam the 
Gila in this vicinity. (See p. 100.) 

POINT OF ROCKS. 

Gila Eiver for some distance on both sides of the place known 
as Point of Eocks is flanked by black walls of basalt, in places over 
100 feet high. These walls are only about 500 feet apart at Point of 
Eocks. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to dam the 
river at this place. (See p. 100.) The lava on both sides fur¬ 
nishes firm support for the end of a dam, but unfortunately it rests 
cm unconsolidated gravel so that an adequate foundation for a dam 
is lacking. The presence of the alluvial material beneath the basalt 
is known from well records at Sentinel and from the general geology 
of the region. The railroad wells at Sentinel show that there the 
alluvium is at least 780 feet thick, of which, however, the lower 
580 feet is clay. The hollows of the lava surface are filled with 
coarse sand, mixed near the river with small amounts of fine gravel. 
These deposits are less than a foot thick over much of the basalt 
plain, but in some depressions they are several feet thick. The 
gravel on the lava may indicate that at some time in the past the 
stream overflowed onto this surface. The lava is of Pleistocene age 
and is later than some of the river deposits. Its extrusion probably 
resulted in a damming of the Gila. Some of the water of the stream 
may have flowed over the surface of the lava, depositing gravel and 
sand, before a new channel was cut sufficiently deep to confine it. 

Between the steep lava walls are sand and silt such as make up the 
flood plain of the Gila throughout the lower portion of its course. 
The water flows in channels 30 to 100 feet or more wide between low 
banks. Between Agua Caliente and Palomas no lava exists on the 
right bank of the stream. Here floods have made great inroads into 
the soft silt and sand, forming precipitous banks, in places over 30 


GILA RIVER. 


75 


loot high. The height of these banks, so much greater than that 
of the usual cut bank in the flood plain, is due to the fact that here 
the river is acting against a portion of the old terrace. The old road 
between Agua Caliente and Palomas has been eroded away in several 
places and the washes emptying into the river have been deepened 
to such an extent that it is difficult to cross them with automobiles. 
As a consequence, while the old road with detours around the eroded 
portions is still used by some, a new road for automobiles well to 
the north of the affected area has become necessary. A lateral shift 
of the bank of about a mile in only a few years is reported to have 
taken place in the vicinity of Agua Caliente. 

PALOMAS TO YUMA. 

The character of the river throughout the last 85 miles or so of 
its course varies only in detail. For most of this distance there is 
a well-defined terrace on each side. It is composed of gravel and 
sand and has an average height of perhaps 30 or 40 feet. Above 
the terraces gravel-floored plains extend to the mountains. Below 
them is the flood plain of the river, 1 to 5 miles wide. The flood 
plain is a desolate expanse of silt and sand dotted with thickets of 
mesquite and near the present channel clumps of arrow weed. Irri¬ 
gation with river water has been attempted at many places, but with 
little success. The water flows in channels between banks 3 to 10 
feet high, except where the stream has swung against and cut into 
one of the old terraces above mentioned. In such places the bank 
may be as much as 50 feet high. 

FOSSILS. 

About a quarter of a mile north of Ligurta siding on the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Kirk Bryan, of the United States Geological Sur¬ 
vey, found on October 31, 1917, fossil bones lying on and partly 
buried in the gravel and sand of the terrace that borders Gila River. 
The locality is that marked Fossil Point on Plate IV. The fossils 
were examined by J. W. Gidley, of the United States National 
Museum, who reports as follows: 

The collection consists for the most part of indeterminable bone fragments, 
but two fragments are recognizable. One is a portion of a phalanx of a horse, 
Equus sp., and the other is the basal portion of the antler of a deer, probably 
belonging to the genus Oclocoileus. These do not determine the age more 
closely than that they are Pleistocene, though the presence of horse remains 
suggests one of the older phases of the Pleistocene. 

This terrace is a portion of the principal set of terraces bordering 
the lower Gila and composed of alluvium of intermediate age. 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


G 


SUMMARY. 

Gila River below Salt River is a winding stream subject to con¬ 
siderable and rapid changes in volume. It flows through a series of 
valleys deeply filled with alluvium between short rugged mountain 
ranges in a desert region. The flood plain is bounded throughout 
most of this portion of the river’s course by a single well-defined set 
of terraces. In places no terrace now exists on one or both sides of 
the stream, either because conditions were not favorable for terrace 
formation at these places, or because the terrace has been removed 
by erosion subsequent to its formation. The latter is the more prob¬ 
able explanation for most of these places. Other terraces besides the 
principal set can be found here and there, as in the vicinity of the 
Enterprise ranch, but these are discontinuous and of small extent. 
Between the principal terraces is the flood plain, which is in most 
places from 1 mile to several miles wide. Incised into the flood 
plain are channels 1 foot to 10 feet or more deep and a few feet to a 
mile wide. The position, size, and number of the channels change 
with every flood. The flood plain is composed of sand and silt. The 
sides of the valleys above the principal terraces are covered for the 
most part with coarse sand and gravel mixed to a greater or less 
extent with silt. 

The water of the river is muddy at all times. During floods it 
transports great quantities of mud. Although the force of some 
of the floods is sufficient to tear dams from their foundations, damage 
bridges, and erode considerable areas of land, the river is in gen¬ 
eral a depositional stream. It receives greater loads of sediment 
than it can transport, and the channels are silting up. 

INTERPRETATION OF WELL LOGS. 

The deep wells put down by the Southern Pacific Co. and others 
are of considerable assistance in studying the geologic and physio¬ 
graphic history of Gila River. They furnish the only definite in¬ 
formation obtainable as to conditions in the lower portions of the 
thick sedimentary deposits that fill the old valley of that stream. 
There are some discrepancies between the logs of wells located close 
together at some of the stations on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 
although the logs of these wells furnished by the railroad company 
give evidence of having been carefully kept and appear to be in 
general reliable. These discrepancies can in part be accounted for 
by the varied nature of the material penetrated. Considerable 
lateral variation within a distance of only a few yards is to be ex¬ 
pected in the deposits of such a stream as the Gila. Some of the 
inconsistencies in the logs can be accounted for only by differences 


GILA RIVER. 


77 


in the judgment and methods of the drillers and inaccuracies in the 
records. Some of them are not as great as they seem at first glance. 
-There is little uniformity in the nomenclature employed by drillers. 
Two equally reliable and experienced men may call the same stratum 
by different names. It is often impossible in drilling to determine 
at precisely what point a significant change in the formation oc¬ 
curs, and this fact also leads to many apparent inconsistencies in well 
logs. 

In Plate XII the logs of the principal wells near Gila River be¬ 
tween its mouth and Salt River are plotted. The deep well at Mesa, 
near Salt River, is also shown. In making this plate the approxi¬ 
mate profiles of Gila and Salt rivers were plotted according to the 
best available data. The graphic logs of the wells are spaced ac¬ 
cording to their distances apart as measured along the rivers and 
in the correct position vertically with reference to sea level. Where 
two or more wells have been drilled close together composite logs 
are given, and the portions of each log which appeared to be most 
detailed or most probably accurate were used in making the compos¬ 
ite. The complete logs of all the deep wells are given on pages 
80-84, 88. 

In the absence of detailed surveys it must be recognized that the 
profiles given are only approximate. It is believed, however, that no 
errors large enough to affect the accuracy of the general relations 
exist. The character of the profile of Gila River and of the small 
portion of Salt River shown is that which would be expected. The 
gradient is steepest in the upper portions and gradually decreases 
nearer the mouth. The two places where the profile is convex up¬ 
ward are easily accounted for. At Buckeye the Gila is known to 
flow over granite with but a thin alluvial cover. The greater resist¬ 
ance to corrasion of this hard rock compared to that of the uncon¬ 
solidated alluvium which floors most of the rest of the stream has 
resulted in a lower gradient being established at this locality. At 
Point of Rocks, near Sentinel, where the other convexity in the river 
profile occurs, the stream has had to cut through a thickness of more 
than 100 feet of basalt, which has retarded its progress. Below the 
basalt is alluvium, but the thickness of the deposit at this point is 
not known. As the Gila Bend Mountains extend almost to the river 
channel on the north, it seems probable that the alluvium here is not 
very thick. 

WELLS OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO. 

The logs of the three railroad wells at Yuma are reasonably con¬ 
sistent. The wells penetrated sand and clay with very little gravel. 
The deepest one encountered granite at a depth of 885 feet, or about 
240 feet below sea level. The material above the granite is prob¬ 
ably all river-laid sediment deposited largely by Colorado River 


78 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


but possibly in part by Gila River. This evidence indicates depres¬ 
sion of the land in Pleistocene time, for Gila River could not deposit 
sediment so far below sea level. 

The three shallow wells at Wellton penetrated sediments, in large 
part coarse gravels. This indicates either that the river at the time 
these sediments were deposited had a much greater transporting 
power than at present, or, more probably, that the lower forma¬ 
tions in the wells are side-wash material and not river sediments.. 
The latter hypothesis is supported by the location of the wells with 
respect to the present topography. The amount of gravel reported 
in the deep well at Wellton is less than that reported at correspond¬ 
ing depths in the shallow wells. This may be due to an actual 
variation in the formations, or it may be the result of inaccuracy in 
keeping the record of the upper part of the deep well. Two rather 
thick bodies of clay are recorded in the log of this well. The- 
upper one is red clay, 90 feet thick, reached at a depth of 185 
feet, and the lower one is blue clay, 145 feet thick, reached at a 
depth of 560 feet. These beds are separated bv 285 feet of sand. 
They evidently indicate much quieter conditions of deposition than 
those which prevailed while the gravel and sand above and below 
them were being laid down. Below the blue clay the formations, 
are cemented to a greater or less degree. As amount of con¬ 
solidation is in general a rough measure of the age of a deposit, these 
lower strata may belong to a somewhat older series than those above 
them. At a depth of 938 feet “ hard rock” is reported lying- 
below 45 feet of “ broken formation.” It is possible that at this 
point the well reached bedrock belonging to the series of sedi¬ 
mentary rocks of probable Tertiary age which crops out at Ante¬ 
lope Hill and Baker Peaks. The consolidated alluvium supposed to 
be Pleistocene and the Tertiary sedimentary rocks in this region are 
so similar that it is impossible to distinguish the two with certainty 
in well records. It is probable, however, that at Wellton the 
Pleistocene alluvium is less than 1,000 feet thick. As indicated in 
the section on geologic history, this may include beds of upper 
Tertiary age. 

The wells at Pembroke and Mohawk and the one between these 
two stations penetrated clay and gravel with some sand, and the 
latter two wells reached bedrock. The material penetrated appears 
to be ordinary valley fill and to have no special significance. 

At Aztec the railroad has two wells. The log of well No. 2 is 
more detailed than that of well No. 1, but the two are in general 
similar. There are several points of resemblance between these logs 
and that of the deep well at Wellton. The upper strata are sand 
and clay; next there is a considerable thickness of clay containing 


GILA RIVER. 


79 


some sand; next partly consolidated sand and gravel; and in the bot¬ 
tom of the wells rock of apparently sedimentary origin. The gravel 
that occurs in the upper part of the Wellton well is absent at Aztec, 
and the clay is much thicker. Otherwise the two sections are simi¬ 
lar. No outcrops of Tertiary rock are known in the vicinity of 
Aztec, but it is entirely possible that such rocks exist buried under 
the alluvium and that the rock found in the bottom of the wells is 
of that age. 

1 he logs of the four railroad wells at Sentinel are not very con¬ 
sistent in detail but they agree in general. They show 20 feet of 
soil, followed by basalt with some interbedded clay; then sand, clay, 
and a little gravel, followed by more than 550 feet of clay with a 
little sand, and finally sand, gravel, and clay, partly consolidated, 
some of which is called “rock” in the logs. It might equally well 
be alluvium of the older group or Tertiary rock, so far as the evi¬ 


dence available shows. 

At Gila Bend (Gila railroad station) there are seven wells be¬ 
longing to the railroad company. Three of these are more than 
1,700 feet deep, being thus by far the deepest wells in this region. 
The logs of two of these agree almost exactly and were probably 
made by the same man. The log of the third differs only in detail. 
These three are at the roundhouse. The other four are shallower 
and older and are at the pump house, a short distance west of the 
roundhouse. Their logs agree reasonably closely with those of the 
roundhouse wells. The roundhouse wells penetrated 90 feet of sand 
and gravel with a little clay, then sandy clay, followed by more than 
850 feet of clay with, according to one log, some sand and mud, and 
finally more than 600 feet of thin alternating beds of clay and gravel, 
with minor amounts of sand. Several of the beds in the last 650 
feet are called “ rock ” in the logs, and all of them are probably 
more or less consolidated. One of the logs mentions “ shells and 
mud” between depths of 1,100 and 1,125 feet. If the “shells” are 
the fossil remains of organisms tliev may indicate conditions mark- 


edly different from any known to have existed in this region. It is 
probable, however, that they are not really shells. One of the other 
logs gives “ shale and mud ” at this depth, and another, that of 
well No. 6, gives “ hard clay.” 

It is possible that part or all of the formations below the clay are 
of Tertiary age, but this can not be proved, and it is equally possible 
that they are of early Pleistocene or late Tertiary age. In either 
case, it is clear that at least three important groups of events are 
recorded by the strata penetrated by these wells. These are (1) 
sedimentation under rapidly varying conditions, producing the thin 
beds in the lower parts of the wells; (2) deposition in quiet water; 


80 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


(3) deposition of the beds above the clay under conditions approxi¬ 
mating those of the present day. 

Two of the logs show “ clay and malapai ” between depths of 
1,125 and 1,140 feet. “Malapai” (a corruption of the Spanish 
“ malpafs,” badland) is a local name for the basaltic lava. Pos¬ 
sibly, therefore, volcanic rock exists at this depth. Another and 
at least equally probable explanation of the record is that the 
“ malapai ” noted consists of boulders of lava or some similar rock 
that have been transported by water from some distant outcrop to 
the place where they are now found. 


Logs of icclls of Southern Pacific Co. in lower Gila region. 

Yuma well No. 1 (finished Jan. 29, 1917). 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

. 

Dry gravel. 

Feet. 

10 

Feet. 

10 

Cemented dry sand; water 
stands at 55 feet. 

5S 

68 

Cemented gravel. 

2 

70 

Cemented sand. 

22 

92 

River clay. 

10 

102 



• 

Thickness. 

Depth. 

Cemented sand. 

Feet. 

19 

Feet. 

121 

Water gravel. 

4 

125 

Fine sand with some clay.... 

76 

201 

Water gravel, broken rock... 

20 

221 

Fine sand with clay. 

25 

246 


Yuma well No. 2 (finished Apr. 22, 1917). 


Sand and gravel. 

Cemented sand; water stands 

at 65 feet... 

Gravel. 

Cemented sand. 

River clay. 


16 

16 

Clayey sand. 

Water gravel. 

21 

5 

126 

131 

55 

71 

Clayey sand. 

59 

190 

1 

72 

Cemented sand. 

15 

205 

23 

95 

Gravel and broken rock. 

21 

226 

10 

105 i 

Cemented sand. 

26 

252 


Yuma test well (finished Jan. 6, 1917). 


Dry gravel. 

10 

I 

10 

Cemented sand. 

19 

121 

Cemented dry sand; water 



Water gravel. 

4 

125 

stands at 55 feet. 

58 

68 

Fine sand with some clay.... 

76 

201 

Cemented gravel. 

2 

70 

Water gravel, broken rock... 

19 

221 

Cemented sand. 

22 

92 

Fine sand with clay. 

164 

385. 

River clay. 

10 

102 

Solid rock (granite). 

11 

396 







Old Wellton well No. 1 (finished March, 1S92). 


Sediment-.. 

Dry sand. 

Red hardpan. 

Dry sand; water stands at 

48 feet. 

Water-bearing sand. 


14 

14 

j Coarse gravel. 

20 

73 

27 

41 

| Sand and fine gravel. 

3 

81 

2 

43 

Coarse gravel. 

17 

98 



Quicksand and gravel. 

3 

101 

6 

49 

Coarse gravel. 

17 

118- 

9 

58 





Wellton well No. 1 (finished Jan. 20, 1918). 


Soil. 

Sand. 

Coarse gravel 

Soil. 

Sand. 


18 

18 

Silt. 

3 

21 

39 

Adobe or clay; water stands 


2 

41 

at 51 feet 8 inches. 

14 

1 

42 

Coarse gravel. 

72 

6 

48 

Quicksand. 

3 























































































































GILA RIVER 


81 


Logs of wells of Southern Pacific Co. in lower Gila region^— Continued. 


Wellton well No. 2 (finished Mar. 2, 1918). 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

• 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Soil. 

17 

17 

Sand. 

23 

40 

Clay. 

4 

44 

Sand. 

2 

46 

Clay. 

• 1 

47 

Gravel; water stands at 49 
feet. 

3 

50 

Clay. 

1 

51 

Sand. 

2 

.53 

Hard clay. 

14 

67 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Gravel. 

Feet. 

22 

Feet. 

89 

Cement boulders.... 

10 

99 

Gravel. 

7 

106 

Cement boulders. 

7 

1L3 

Gravel. 

' 

115 

Cement gravel. 

4 

119 

Gravel. 

1J 

120* 

Cement boulders. 

i 

124 

Loose gravel. 

5 

129 

Cement. 

37 

136 


Wellton well No. 3 (finished June 16. 1904). 


Loam. 

15 

15 

Sand; water rises to 58-foot 
level. 

75 

90 

Gravel. 

20 

110 

Sand. 

75 

185 

Red clay. 

90 

275 

Sand...". 

285 

560 

Blue clay. 

145 

705 

Sandstone. 

10 

715 

Clay and gravel. 

10 

725 

Cement gravel. 

35 

760 

Sandstone. 

45 

805 



Cement gravel. 

55 

860 

Sandy shale. 

5 

865 

Cement gravel. 

7 

872 

Sandstone. 

8 

880 

White clay. 

5 

885 

Red clay. 

53 

938 

Broken formation. 

45 

983 

Hard rock. 

17 

1,000 

Red sandstone. 

58 

1,066 

Red clay. 

44 

1,110 

White sand. 

10 

1,120 


Well 2 miles east of Pembroke (finished September, 191S). 


Dry loose sand. 

3 

3 

Heaving sand. 

15 

240 

Clay. 

37 

40 

Water gravel. 

20 

260 

Clay and gravel; water 



Clay arid gravel. 

148 

408 

stands at 175 feet. 

150 

190 

Boulders, water bearing. 

25 

433 

Sand and gravel, water bear- 



Solid rock.\. 

5 

438 

ing. 

35 

225 





Pembroke well. 


Sandy soil. 

8 

8 

Water gravel. 

18 

200 

Clay * and gravel; water 



Clay and gravel. 

218 

418 

stands here. 

174 

182 

Fine, slimy sand with water. 

37 

455 


Mohawk well (finished Aug. 3, 1899). 


Cemented clay and gravel... 

160 

160 

Sand and gravel. 

6 

176 

Red clay.... 

3 

163 

Granite. 

n 

1831 

Gravel... 

7 

170 



Aztec well No. 1 (finished April, 1918). 


Randv soil 

25 

25 

Hard sand. 

5 

145 

flpmont 

2 

27 

Red clay. 

455 

600 

Running sand 

35 

62 

Coarse water sand. 

• 22 

622 

Clay; water stands at 79 feet. 

20 

82 

Very hard sand. 

28 

650 

Sand. 

28 

110 

Very coarse water sand. 

6 

656 

Clav 

13 

123 

Hard sand. 

10 

666 

Water gravel. 

2 

125 

Black rock of sand nature... 

44 

710 

Clay. 

% 

15 

140 

























































































































































82 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


Logs of wells of Southern Pacific Co. in lower Gila region —Continued. 

Aztec well No. 2 (finished June, 1918). 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Coarse sand. 

Feet. 

38 

Feet. 

38 

Cement sand. 

2 

40 

Caving sand. 

17 

57 

Sand and clay; water stands 
at 79 feet. 

45 

102 

Cement. 

2 

104 

Sand and clay. 

26 

130 

Water sand... 

2 

132 

Red clay. 

3 

135 

Sand and clay. 

22 

157 

Water sand... 

3 

160 

Clay. 

11 

-i- 

171 i 

Cement.. 

174 

175 

Sandy clay. 

3i 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Red clay. 

Feet. 

19 

Feet, 
194 

Clay. 

68 

262 

Water gravel. 

2 

264 

Clay. 

13 

277 

Sandy clay. 

163 

440 

Clay.... 

40 

480 

Sandy clay. 

40 

520 

Red clay. 

110 

630 

Water sand and gravel. 

5 

635 

Cement . 

5 

640 

Recomposed granite . 

12 

652 

Fine sand. 

2 

6.54 

Sand and gravel. 

21 

675 

Sandrock.. 

35 

710 


Sentinel well No. 1 (finished November, 1882). 


Clay. 

20 

20 

Sand. 

250 

600 

Lava. 

SO 

100 

Clay.. 

400 

1,000 

Sand; water (water level 185 
feet). 

250 

350 

Sand and gravel. 

129 

1 ,129 


Sentinel well No. 2 (finished April, 1897). 


Loam. 

Loose rock. 

25 

9 

25 

34 

Sand; water struck at 242 
feet. 

62 

255 

Lava. 

41 

75 

Sand and clay. 

33 

288 

Loose lava and clay. 

10 

85 

Sand... 

38 

326 

Solid lava.!. 

50 

135 

Clay. 

587 

913 

Sand and gravel; water rises 
to 190 feet. 

58 

193 

Soft rock. 

49 

962 


Sentinel well No. 3’ (finished Nov. 10, 1904). 


Loam. 

20 

20 

Clay and sand. . 

40 

650 

Lava. 

16 

36 

Clay. 

5 

655 

Solid rock. 

40 

76 

Sand. 

5 

660 

Clay. 

30 

106 

Clay. 

55 

715 

Lava. 

35 

141 

Sand. 

45 

760 

Sand and gravel. 

29 

170 

Clay. 

173 

933 

Sand; water struck at 246 



Rock. 

69 

1,002 

feet, rises to 205-foot level.. 

180 

350 

Clav. 

28 

1,030 

Red clav. 

260 

610 

Rock.. 

52 

1 082 








Sentinel well No. 4 (finished Jan. 1, 1917). 


Soil. 

20 

20 

Heavy clav.. 

74 

304 

Yellow clay. 

22 

42 

Sand and clay. 

36 

340 

Lava.I. 

2 

44 

Boulders and sand .. 

10 

350 

Malapai boulders. 

26 

15 

70 

Clay. . 

565 

915 

Solid rock. 

85 

Rock. 

25 

940 

Clay and boulders. 

5 

90 

Clay. 

40 

980 

Lava.. 

16 

106 

j Gravel... . 

15 

995 

Malapai, boulders, and clav.. 

34 

140 

Rock. 

11 

1,006 

Malapai. 

36 

176 

Porous rock carrying water.. 

8 

1,014 

Clay; water rises to 180 feet.. 

44 

220 

Clay. 

6 

1,020 

Sand and gravel. 

10 

230 

Rock.. 

10 

1,030 





Gila well No. 2 (finished August, 1895). 


Cemented gravel. 

20 

20 

Sand and clay. 

28 

Indurated clay. 

20 

40 

Lava and clay. 

57 

Cemented gravel. 

20 

60 

Hard rock_ .... 

15 

Coarse gravel and sand. 

40 

100 

Clav and rock. 

44 

Clay; surface of water at 140 



Tough red clay. 

32 

feet. 

68 

168 

Clay... 

29 

Quicksand. 

112 

280 

, Rock and clav. 

13 

Sand and clay. 

195 

475 

j Hard rock and clay 

4 

Clay. 

290 

765 

(day. 

8 

Dry clay. 

215 

980 

Bot tom of well . 

6 

Clay.. A. 

170 

1,150 




1 , 1/8 

1,235 

1,250 

1,294 

1,326 

1,355 

1,368 

1,372 

1,380 

1,386 






























































































































































































GILA RIVER. 


83 


Logs of wells of Southern Pacific Go. in lower Gila region —Continued. 


Gila well No. 3 (finished Jan. 20, 1906). 



Thickness. 

I 

Depth. 


Thickness. 

Depth. 

Gravel and soil. 

Clav. 

Feet. 

15 

25 

52 

46 

18 

8 

Feet. 

15 

40 

92 

138 

156 

164 

Heaving sand. 

Clav_ 

Feet. 

6 

10 

20 

5 

4 

Feet. 

170 

180 

200 

205 

209 

Cement gravel. 

Sand. 

Clay; struck water. 

Water sand. 

Sandrock. 

Sandrock. 

Gravel and water. 


Gila well No. 4 (finished Feb. 3, 1906). 


Gravel and soil. 

15 

15 

Sand. 

24 

162 

Clay. 

25 

40 

Heaving sand and clay. 

21 

183 

Cement gravel. 

52 

92 

Sand, clay, and gravel. 

13* 

13* 

196* 

210 

Clay; struck water at 138 
feet. 

46 

138 

Clay. 


Gila well No. 5 (finished Feb. 22, 1906). 


Clav. 

17 

17 

Cement sand and clay.. 

31 

111 

Sand and clay. 

39 

56 

Clay and quicksand \ struck 



Sand and cemented sand .... 

24 

80 

water at 138 feet. 

99 

210 


Gila well No. 6 (finished Jan. 25, 1917). 


Sand and gravel . 

25 

25 

Clay and gravel . 

24 

1,355 

Clav and boulders . 

20 

45 

Light rock . 

6 

1,361 

Fine sand. 

20 

65 

Clay and gravel. 

32 

1,393 

Fine gravel . 

15 

80 

Quartz rock. 

5 

1,398 

Coarse gravel, cemented in 



Cement gravel. 

18 

1,416 

streaks. 

12 

92 

Clay. 

11 

1,427 

Clay. 

53 

145 

Cement gravel. 

18 

1,445 

Fine sand, water bearing.. .. 

30 

175 

Clay — 7 . 

20 

1,465 

Sandy clay. . . 

50 

225 

Boulders in clay . 

9 

1,474 

Fine sand“ water bearing .... 

10 

235 

Clay and gravel . 

21 

1,495 

Sandy clay.. .. 

235 

470 

Boulders and clay . 

15 

1,510 

Clay and not, mnd . 

410 

880 

Clay and gravel. .’. 

20 

1,530 

Cemented clay... 

20 

900 

Rock . 

25 

1,555 

Coarse sand "with a little 



Clay . 

13 

1,568 

water. . . 

5 

905 

Hard rock . 

33 

1,601 

Hard clav_ 

215 

1,120 

Clay . 

11 

1,612 

Hard clav and rock.. 

50 

1 , 170 

Rock . 

9 

1,621 

Hard shell; water struck at 



Clay . 

19 

1,640 

1,175 feet. . '. . 

5 

1,175 

Rock . 

7 

1,647 

Water-bearing sand __ 

10 

1 185 

Clay . 

17 

1,664 

Sandrock 

25 

1,210 

Rock . 

9 

1,673 

Rock. . . 

49 

1,259 

Clay . 

8 

l" 681 

Clav with crave! 

12 

1,271 

Rock . 

13 

1,694 

Rock.. . 

13 

1,284 

Clay . 

14 

1,708 

Clav and pravel_ 

23 

1,307 

Rock . 

6 

1,714 

Rock.. . 

5 

1 , 312 

Sand carrying water . 

18 

1,732 

Clav and crave! 

10 

1,322 

Clay ..". 

8 

1,740 

Red rock . 

9 

1,331 

Rock . 

6 

1,746 








Gila well No. 7 (finished Jan. 14, 1917). 


Dry gravel. 

Clay. 

Sand. 

Dry gravel. 

Cemented gravel. 

Sandy clay; water stands at 

115 feet. . 

Clay; air inlet at 450 feet. 

Shale and mud. 

Clay and malapai. 

Rock; water struck at 1,175 

feet. 

Fine sand. 

Rock. 

Clay with gravel... 

Rock. 


30 

30 

Clay and gravel. 

23 

20 

50 

Rock. 

5 

20 

70 

Clay and gravel. 

10 

4 

74 

Rea rock. 

9 

16 

90 

Clay and gravel. 

24 



Light rock. 

6 

150 

240 

Clay and gravel. 

32 

860 

1,100 

Quartz rock. 

5 

25 

1,125 

Cement gravel. 

18 

15 

1,140 

Clay. 

11 



Cement gravel. 

18 

35 

1,175 

Clay. 

20 

1 

1,176 

Boulders in clay. 

9 

83 

1,259 

Clay and gravel. 

21 

12 

1,271 

Boulders and clay. 

15 

13 

1,284 

Clay and gravel. 

20 


49417—23-7 


1,307 
1,312 
1,322 
1,331 
1,355 
1,361 
1,393 
1,398 
1,416 
1,427 
1,445 
1,465 
1,474 
1,495 
1,510 
1,530 





































































































































































84 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

Logs of wells of Southern Pacific Go. in lower Gila region —Continued. 

Gila well No. 7 (finished Jan. 14, 1917)—Continued. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Rock. 

Feet. 

25 

Feet. 

1,555 

Clay. 

13 

1.568 

1,601 

Hard rock. 

33 

Clay. 

11 

i; 6i2 

Rock. 

9 

1,624 

Clay. 

19 

1,610 

Rock. 

7 

1,647 

Clay. 

17 

1,664 





Thickness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Rock. 

9 

1,673 

Clay. 

8 

1,681 

Rock. 

13 

1,694 

Clay. 

14 

1,708 

Rock. 

6 

1,714 

Sand carrying water. 

18 

1,732 

Clay. 

8 

1,740 

Rock. 

6 

1 

1,746 


Gila well No. 8 (finished Aug. 14, 1918). 


Drv gravel . 

30 

30 

Cemented gravel. 

18 

1,416 

Clay 

20 

50 

Clav.... 

11 

1,427 

Sand. . 

20 

70 

Cemented gravel. 

18 

1,445 

Drv pravel 

4 

74 

Clay. 

20 

1,465 

Cemented gravel 

16 

90 

Boulders in clav. 

9 

1,474 

Sandy clay- water stands at 



Clay and gravel. 

21 

1,495 

115 feet,. 

150 

240 

Boulders and clay. 

15 

1,510 

Clav . 

860 

1,100 

Clay and gravel. .. 

20 

1,530 

Shells and mud 

25 

1 125 

Rock_T. . 

25 

1 , 555 

Clav and malapai 

15 

1 , 140 

Clay . 

13 

1,568 

Rock; water struck at 1,175 



Hard rock . 

33 

1,601 

feet, . 

35 

1,175 

Clay . 

11 

1,612 

Fine sand. 

1 

1,176 

Rock . 

9 

1, 621 

Rock. 

83 

1 259 

Clay . 

19 

1,640 

Clay with gravel . 

12 

1,271 

Rock . 

7 

1; 647 

Rock .r.. 

13 

1,284 

Clay . . 

17 

1,664 

Clay and gravel . 

23 

l' 307 

Rock. 

9 

1,673 

Rock_ r. . 

5 

1, 312 

Clay. 

8 

1,681 

Clay and gravel . 

10 

1^ 322 

Rock . 

13 

1,694 

Red rock T. . 

9 

l' 331 

Clav . 

14 

1,708 

Clay and gravel . 

24 

1^ 355 

Rock . 

6 

1,714 

Light rods . 

6 

l'361 

Sand carrying water . 

18 

1,732 

Clay and gravel . 

32 

1^ 393 

Clay ... 

8 

1,740 

Quartz rock . 

5 

\ 398 

Rock . 

12 

1,752 







WELLS IN ARLINGTON VALLEY. 

Most of the wells near Arlington are too shallow to throw much 
light on ground-water conditions. None are nearly as deep as most 
of those described above. The A. K. well, in sec. 32, T. 1 S., R. 5 W., 
near Arlington, is the only one shown on Plate XII. The schoolhouse 
well in the NW. J sec. 33, T. 1 S., R. 5 W., just north of the A. K. 
well, is not so deep but penetrates similar material. The logs of 
these two wells are given below. Mr. John Montgomery, 54 of the 
Flower Pot Cattle Co., states that the water level in them rose about 
12 feet in the 20 years preceding 1918. He also states that all at¬ 
tempts in this locality to sink wells far enough to pass through the 
second stratum of red clay have failed and have found no water 
below that in the white sand under the first stratum of red clay. 


H Personal communication. 































































































GILA RIVER. 


85 


Logs of wells in Arlington Valley. 
[Furnished by John Montgomery.] 


A. K. well. 

Well of district school No. 47. 


Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 


Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 

Sand and gravel. 

Red clay... 

Feet. 

60 

30 

2 

58 

Feet. 

60 

90 

92 

150 

Sand and gravel. 

Red clay. 

Feet. 

60 

30 

1 

Feet. 

60 

97 

98 

Sand...'. 

White sand. 

Red clay. 



WELLS IN BUCKEYE VALLEY. 

None of the wells near Palo Verde, Buckeye, or Liberty furnish 
any important information as to ground water. Those near the 
river are very shallow. No detailed logs are available of the deeper 
wells used for irrigation in the valley a mile or two north of the 
river. They pass through gravel and sand, probably in part river 
sediments, in part side wash. Side wash and river sediments can 
not be distinguished in well logs, and even in surface exposures in 
this region they grade into each other to so great an extent and 
possess so many characteristics in common that they can be dis¬ 
criminated, if at all, only by detailed field study. 

SOUTHWEST COTTON CO.’s WELLS. 

The Southwest Cotton Co. has sunk a number of wells near 
Avondale on the west side of Agua Fria River. None of them are 
very deep, but the logs have been carefully kept, and the information 
in them may be of value. The logs are given below. The material 
penetrated is principally side wash from the White Tank Mountains, 
but sediments deposited by Agua Fria River may be present in some 
wells. The large amount of caliche in nearly all the wells is note¬ 
worthy. The formation of caliche is a rather slow process, so 
that its presence in large amounts in a deposit is an indication that 
the deposit is not very recent in origin. Probably at least the lower 
strata in these wells belong to the older alluvium. In the log of well 
No. 33 a stratum of shells in caliche is recorded. If this record is 
correct, it indicates that conditions markedly different from those 
of the present existed during the deposition of these strata. Possibly 
at some time in the past a basin or basins existed in this locality in 
which water remained long enough to allow shellfish to live. One 
of the engineers of the company states that in an abandoned test 
hole of which no record has been kept a stratum of gypsum was 
encountered. The gypsum and some of the beds called caliche in the 
logs may be precipitates formed during desiccation in these basins. 





























86 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


Logs of wells of Southwest Cotton Co., Avondale, Ariz. 

Well No. 3, W. 1 sec. 12, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,051 feet.] 



Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 


Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

Feet. 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Boulders and gravel. 

38 

38 

Cemented gravel and sand. 

5 

127 

Fine sand. 

2 

40 

Clay and gravel. 

8 

135 

Soft caliche. 

17 

57 

Loose boulders and gravel. 

10 

145 

Boulders and coarse gravel. 

18 

75 

Soft cemented gravel, sand, and 



Clay. 

21 

96 

boulders. 

12 

157 

Boulders and coarse gravel and 



Loose boulders, gravel, and sand.. 

11 

168 

sand. 

14 

110 

Hard sand. 

2 

170 

Clay and coarse gravel. 

12 

122 

_1 

Soft cemented gravel and sand... 

16 

186 


Well No. 4, W. I sec. 12, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,040 feet.] 


finil and sand . 

8 

8 

Gravel and boulders. 

10 

130 

Gravel and boulders.. 

30 

38 

Hard sand. 

20 

150 

Clay and hnnlders. 

4 

42 

Clay and gravel. 

18 

168 

Gravel and boulders... 

18 

60 

Cemented gravel and boulders. 

4 

172 

Clay and boulders. 

10 

70 

Clay and boulders. 

6 

178 

C oars a gravel.. 

32 

102 

Clay and gravel. 

11 

189 

Clay and gravel. 

18 

120 



Well No. 5, SE. \ sec. 11, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,044 feet.] 


Soil. 

14 

14 

Clay.. 

20 

89 

Caliche. 

3 

17 

Gravel. 

4 

93 

Clay. 

25 

42 

Clay. 

24 

117 

Caliche. 

4 

46 

Caliche. 

3 

120 

Clay. 

4 

50 

Clay. 

10 

130 

Cemented gravel. 

11 

61 

Gravel. 

79 

209 

Clay. 

4 

65 

Clay. 

10 

219 

Gravel. 

4 

69 





Soil.... 

Caiiche 

Gravel. 

Caliche 


Well No. 6, SE. J sec. 11, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,044 feet.] 


8 

8 

Gravel and boulders. 

45 

115 

8 

16 

Clay. 

52 

167 

8 

24 

Gravel. 

4 

171 

46 

70 

Clay. 

31 

202 


Well No. 7, NE. \ sec. 14, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,047 feet.] 


Soil. 

Cemented gravel 

Sand. 

Cemented gravel 
Caliche. 


8 

8 

Gravel. 

41 

7 

15 

Caliche and clay. 

114 

2 

17 

Clay. 

4 

7 

24 

Gravel. 

5 

16 

40 

Clay, caliche, and cemented sand. 

139 


Well No. 7A, NW. \ sec. 7, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 
[Altitude 1,112 feet.] 


81 

195 

199 

204 

343 


Soil. 

Sand with clay and caliche 

Gravel, sand, and clay. 

Fine sand. 

Gravel and boulders. 

Quicksand. 

Gravel. 

Soft caliche. 


7 

7 

Gravel. 

55 

192 

27 

34 

Sand. 

12 

204 

26 

60 

Soft sandstone. 

24 

228 

32 

92 

Coarse sand. 

42 

270 

14 

106 

Sandstone. 

5 

275 

6 

112 

Shaly sandstone. 

Sandy clay. 

33 

308 

6 

19 

118 

137 

4.5 

312.5 









































































































































































GILA RIVER 


87 


Logs of wells of Southwest Cotton Co., Avondale, Ariz. —Continued. 

Well No. 8, NE. J sec. 14, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

(Altitude 1,045 feet.J 



Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 

• 

Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 

Soil. 

3 

3 

Gravel... 

4 

259 

Clay. 

19 

22 

Clav- 

9 

268 

Clay and gravel. 

6 

28 

>r y,. 

2 

270 

Sand and“caliche. 

18 

46 

Clay. 

10 

280 

Gravel.. 

54 

100 

Hard sand * 

12 

292 

Clay and caliche. 

98 

198 

Caliche and hard sand 

2 

294 

Clay and gravel. 

12 

210 

Not known 

9 

303 

Clay. 

45 

255 





Soil. 

Clay. 

Gravel. 

Clay and gravel 


Sandy soil.... 

Gravel. 

Sand. 

Boulders. 

Sand. 

Gravel. 

Sand. 

Clay. 

Sandstone.... 
Clay and sand 


Soil.... 

Caliche 

Sand.. 


Well No. 9, NE. J sec. 22, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,045 feet.] 


2 

2 

Gravel. 

50 

102 

38 

40 

Clay. 

2 

104 

2 

42 

Gravel. 

11 

115 

10 

52 

Clay. 

9 

124 


Well No. 25a, NE. \ sec. 25, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 


17 

17 

Clay. 

17 

135 

13 

30 

Hard sand and boulders. 

25 

160 

8 

38 

Clav with streaks of sandstone.... 

44 

204 

2 

40 

Coarse gravel... 

12 

216 

16 

56 

Sandstone.. 

16 

232 

16 

72 

Clay and gravel. 

12 

244 

10 

82 

Coarse gravel. 

14 

258 

18 

100 

Sandstone. 

4 

262 

13 

113 

Clav. 

41 

303 

5 

118 

Soft sandstone. 

5 

308 


Well No. 28a, S. \ sec. 28, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,009 feet.] 


3 

3 

Caliche. 

52 

21 

24 

Gravel. 

134 

27 

51 

Not known. 

41 






Well No. 33a, sec. 33, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,010 feet.] 


Soil. 

3 

3 

Gravel. 

13 

183 

Caliche. 

9 

12 

Caliche. 

17 

200 

Sand and gravel. 

12 

24 

Gravel. 

7 

207 

Caliche with strata of shells. 

74 

98 

Gray clay. 

17 

224 

Cemented gravel. 

9 

107 

Gravel.... 

50 

274 

Gravel... 

17 

124 

Sandstone. 

14 

288 

Caliche. 

46 

170 



Well No. 34b, center of sec. 34, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,000 feet.] 


Soil. 

3 

3 

Clay. 

31 

Hard nan... 

12 

15 

Gravel and boulders. 

62 

Sand and gravel. 

10 

25 

Clay and caliche. 

12 

Boulders ._. 

1 

26 

Gravel and caliche. 

15 

Cravel and hnnlders 

4 

30 

Caliche. 

19 

Coarse gravel. 

> 31 

61 




92 

154 

166 

181 

200 






















































































































































88 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Logs of wells of Southwest Cotton Co., Avondale, Ariz. —Continued. 

Well in SE. 1 sec. 21, T. 2 N., R. 1 W. 

[Altitude 1,041 feet.) 



Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 


Thick¬ 

ness. 

Depth. 

Soil^and caliche. 

Feet. 

11 

Feet. 

11 

Cemented sand and gravel. 

Feet. 

9 

Feet. 

74 

Gravel. 

13 

24 

Gravel and boulders. 

74 

148 

Caliche. 

7 

31 

Sandstone. 

5 

153 

Cemented sand. 

32 

63 

Caliche. 

7 

160 

Sand and gravel. 

2 

65 





WELLS IN MESA. 55 


The deep well on the Murphy-McQueen ranch, Mesa, is of 
interest because it extends below sea level and because of the con¬ 
siderable thicknesses of clay it passes through. The log of this 
well is given below. Several of the other wells in this locality en¬ 
counter considerable amounts of clay, but none are nearly as deep 
as the Murphy-McQueen well. The clay must have been originally 
laid down in quiet water, undisturbed by swift currents. These 
conditions must have continued uninterrupted for considerable 
periods to permit the accumulation of such thick beds of clay as 
are known to exist. The Murphy-McQueen well penetrated 605 feet 
of “ clay and talc ” in its lower part and was still in the same 
material when drilling ceased. The “ talc ” mentioned can only be 
some variety of clay, and the presence of any considerable amount 
of true talc in such a formation is highly improbable. 


Ijog of well of S. J. Murphy , on Murphy-McQueen ranch, Mesa. 


. .... « • 4 

Thickness. 

Depth. 

? 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Surface alluvial soil. 

13 

13 

Water-bearing cemented gravel and boulders. 

57 

70 

Loose, free water gravel, sand, and boulders.. 

42 

112 

Clay, soft limestone, and chalk rock. 

408 

520 

Coarse sand and small gravel; water. 

6 

526 

Thin strata of sand and clay; no water. 

74 

600 

Clav and talc: no water. 

605 

1,205 


PHYSIOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF GILA RIVER, 


TERTIARV EVENTS. 

In the Tertiary period there was widespread faulting in the lower 
Gila region, and probably it continued intermittently for a long 
time. As a result by late Tertiary time the broad features of the 
present topography had been blocked out. The mountain ranges 

66 Lee, W. T., Underground waters of Salt River valley, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 136, pp. 13-44, 1905. 












































GILA RIVER. 


89 


were separated by structural valleys, in some of which the surface of 
the bedrock had sunk far below the summits of the adjoining moun¬ 
tains. The positions and shapes of these valleys determined in large 
measure the drainage pattern in the region. 

In this report the disturbances that produced the structural val¬ 
leys are considered to mark the end of the Tertiary period, and all 
the material deposited in the present valleys is therefore assigned 
to the Pleistocene. The fossil evidence discovered in San Pedro 
Valley (p. 32) suggests that the older portions of the alluvium may 
be Pliocene. Sedimentary rocks similar in many respects to the 
alluvium in the valleys of the present streams are associated with 
Tertiary lava in the fault blocks in the mountains. Most of these 
sediments were laid down prior to or in the early part of the Ter¬ 
tiary period. Their character indicates that in all probability the 
region at that time had a climate and type of topography similar- 
in many ways to those of to-day. Detailed study may eventually 
make it possible to decipher some of the features of the drainage 
lines of that time, but the available information is only sufficient to 
show that they differed markedly from those of to-day. 

QUATERNARY EVENTS. 

First period of erosion .—The general effect of the movements 
near the end of Tertiary time appears to have been uplift of the 
land. This resulted in greatly increased erosion. The valleys 
already formed were worn deeper by the streams, and doubtless new 
ones were formed. It is not possible from the evidence at hand to 
determine to what extent any particular valley is the result of struc¬ 
tural depression or of erosion. Probably both processes played a 
part in the formation of most of the larger valleys. In one way or 
another deep valleys were evidently formed at this time. Except for 
minor changes the positions of these valleys correspond with those 
of the present ones. 

First period of alluviation .—In course of time the streams, for 
some reason not now determinable, became overloaded. They de¬ 
posited sediment until their valleys became in large part filled with 
it. The older groups of alluvial deposits in the valleys, most of 
which are now partly consolidated, were formed at this time. 

The thickness of the alluvium thus deposited differed greatly in 
different localities. It is impossible now to determine the maximum 
thickness of the formation in the larger valleys. The beds exposed 
in the lower Gila region have maximum thicknesses of at most a 
few score feet. The deep wells in Gila Valley pass through many 
hundred feet of alluvium, but it is impossible from the records to de¬ 
termine with any certainty where to draw the lines between deposits 
of different ages. 


90 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


The Gila conglomerate, which may be equivalent in age to part of 
the older alluvium here, in some parts of the mountain region of 
Arizona is thousands of feet thick. 56 If such thicknesses of allu¬ 
vium were laid down in the mountains, it is probable that equal or 
greater thicknesses were deposited in the lower Gila region. 

Much of the alluvium in the Gila Valley is now below sea level, 
as is proved by the logs of the deep wells. This is graphically shown 
in Plate XII, in which the logs of deep wells are plotted in their 
proper relation to sea level. Much of this deeply buried material is 
clay, but some of it is sand and gravel, apparently differing little or 
not at all from material that is being laid down in the present 
stream channels. 

Whatever the origin of the formations, it is clear that the river 
could not have eroded its channel to any such depths below sea level 
as those at which alluvium has been found in the wells. Therefore 
subsidence ranging from several hundred to more than 1,000 feet 
has taken place in the lower valleys of Salt and Gila rivers since 
alluviation began. The weight of sediment piled up on the tops of 
the downthrown blocks of the original structural valleys may per¬ 
haps have caused subsidence at a rate more or less proportional to 
the rate of deposition of the sediment. Renewed or continued crustal 
movement may have resulted in the subsidence. Whatever the cause, 
the fact seems clearly established. The abundant evidences of the 
erosion of great quantities of material from the mountain ranges of 
the region in early Pleistocene time seems to indicate strongly that 
the general direction of crustal movement in the mountains was 
upward. In strong contrast to this movement was the subsidence in 
the river valleys. In the absence of deep wells it is impossible to 
determine whether there has been corresponding subsidence in the 
intermontane valleys away from the rivers. The alluvial fill in 
many of these valleys is deep, but it has not yet been demonstrated 
that the fill extends below sea level. 

Clay .—A striking feature of the logs of the deep wells along Gila 
River is the presence of great thicknesses of clay. In Plate XII an 
attempt has been made to correlate the beds penetrated by the several 
wells. From this it appears that there is a mass of clay in the Gila 
Valley scores of miles long, with a maximum thickness of at least 
860 feet and a possible width of several miles. The width at Gila 
Bend might be considerable, but in most places it is probably less than 
5 miles. As the railroad crosses the Mohawk Mountains between 
Wellton and Aztec there is a gap in the record of formations in the 
river valley. It is reasonable to suppose that the clay continues in 

60 Ransome, F. L., The copper deposits of Ray and Miami, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Prof. Paper 115, p. 74, 1919. 



GILA RIVER. 


91 


the valley around the north end of the Mohawk Mountains. In that 
case the clay in the deep well at Wellton is a part of the body found 
in the wells at Aztec, Sentinel, and Gila Bend. Another and longer 
stretch for which no information is available is that between Gila 
Bend and Mesa, because of the lack of deep wells in this portion of 
the river valley. Clay is found in the A. K. well, near Arlington, 
and in some others, but none of the wells are deep enough to show 
whether or not there is a thickness corresponding to that found at 
Gila Bend, below T this stretch, and at Mesa, above it. At Mesa the 
clay is at least 605 feet thick and may be much thicker. If it belongs 
to the same body as that in the railroad wells downstream, then this 
mass of clay is at least 182 miles long. It is worthy of note that much 
of the clay is at present below sea level. 

The formation of any such mass of clay as appears to be present 
in the valley of Gila River must have occurred under conditions 
very different from those of the present day. Clay silts are deposited 
in quiet places in the present stream, but that hundreds of feet of 
clay, mixed with only minor amounts of sand, could be laid down 
by a turbulent and variable river like the Gila is not conceivable. 
It would appear that the clay must have been deposited in some 
quiet body of water such as a lake. The record of the presence of 
the clay is not continuous throughout the river valley, and the clay 
may not be a continuous and uninterrupted body. It may have been 
formed in a series of lakes, perhaps corresponding to the series of 
structural valleys that unite to form the long, sinuous valley of the 
Gila. If all the material in the lower parts of the valleys of Gila 
and Colorado rivers above solid bedrock were now removed, the 
sea water w T ould pour in from the Gulf of California and occupy 
large parts of these valleys. If at some time in the past the lower¬ 
ing of the valley floor proceeded faster than the alluvial filling, the 
low T er end of the valley of the Gila may conceivably have been 
flooded by ocean water. Under these circumstances a long, narrow 
estuary would have been formed. There is no evidence of marine 
life in the formations in the valley so far as known at present, nor 
is there any record of characteristic marine sediments among the 
known formations in the valley. The formation of an estuary long 
enough and winding enough to account for the distribution of the 
clay beds by the subsidence of a series of fault blocks would be a 
most unusual and extraordinary occurrence. On the other hand, the 
formation of lakes in a river valley, either by differential movement 
of the valley floor or by some other means, is not uncommon. This 
appears to be the most probable explanation of the known facts. 

In this connection the presence of supposed lake beds in the San 
Carlos Indian Reservation on Gila River should be mentioned. 


92 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Schwennesen 57 found beds of sandstone, tuff, limestone, and marly 
clay with an aggregate estimated thickness of 700 to 800 feet out¬ 
cropping in the valleys of San Carlos and Gila rivers in this reser¬ 
vation. He believes that these beds were formed in a body of stand¬ 
ing water such as a lake. If, as seems probable, these lake beds are 
essentially contemporaneous with the clay above described, the known 
area of such deposits is extended up the Gila as far as the east 
boundary of the San Carlos Reservation. 

Second period of erosion .—After the deposition of the older allu¬ 
vium there was renewed crustal movement. The beds of older allu¬ 
vium were in many places broken by faults and bent by minor fold¬ 
ing. The lake beds in the San Carlos Indian Reservation have suf¬ 
fered minor folding and faulting 58 and are therefore probably older 
than the period of movement during which the older alluvium was 
disturbed. Whether they are contemporaneous with the older allu¬ 
vium or with a part of it is not clear from the available evidence. 
The deep wells in the lower Gila Valley are so widely spaced and the 
correlation between formations in them is so uncertain and to some 
extent impossible that it is not feasible at present to determine 
whether any of the formations penetrated by these wells are tilted. 
As there is no fossil evidence and no safe means of lithologic corre¬ 
lation, divisions between the formations in the river valley can not be 
made. 

During this period of crustal disturbance the general movement, 
at least in the mountains, appears to have been upward. Erosion 
became active, and a break in sedimentation occurred. Not only were 
large quantities of the older rocks worn down and removed from the 
mountains, but much of the Eluvium previously deposited in the 
valleys was swept out of them again. To what extent this change 
was due to the earth movements and to what extent to climatic or 
other causes can not be determined from the available evidence. 
Certainly crustal movement was an important if not the dominant 
factor in the change. 

Second period of alluviation .—The period of movement and 
erosion above described was followed by a second period of valley 
filling during which another series of alluvial deposits was laid 
down. This is the material that floors the greater portion of the 
present valleys, including that of Gila River. As it is younger 
than the alluvium previously described and older than the recent 
deposits it may be referred to as the alluvium of intermediate age. 
It is unconsolidated or onlv locallv consolidated and gives little 

•/ */ o 

57 Schwennesen, A. T., Geology and water resources of the Gila and San Carlos valleys 
in the San Carlos Indian Reservation, Ariz : IT. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 450, 
pp. 8-10, 1921. 

68 Idem, p. 9. 



GILA RIVER. 


93 


or no evidence of having been disturbed by crustal movement. 
Because of the impossibility of distinguishing with certainty in 
well logs between it and the older alluvium and of the small number 
of deep wells in the region, its thickness present in the valleys 
can not be determined. In some places it may be of the order 
of hundreds of feet. This formation is the only one deposited 
since the end of Tertiary volcanism in this region in which fossils 
have been found. (See p. 75.) These fossils seem to show that 
the formation is of Pleistocene age. Indefinite as this information 
is, it marks a distinct advance in our knowledge of the geology 
of the region. 

Basalt .—Flows of basalt occur in many places in the lower Gila 
region interbedded with Pleistocene alluvium. The eruptions appear 
to have been more violent during the deposition of the older alluvium, 
but they continued into the period of deposition of the alluvium 
of intermediate age. These outpourings of lava disarranged the 
drainage in several places in the region by blocking the stream 
channels. Evidence of old lava dams now cut through by Gila 
River is found at Gillespie dam (p. 71) and Point of Rocks (p. 74). 

Third period of erosion .—After the deposition of these beds 
another pause in sedimentation took place. The streams were 
rejuvenated and once more began to cut. The evidence of this 
change on the lower Gila River is found in the well-defined terrace 
that borders the stream on both sides at most places along its course. 
The amount of erosion was less than that which occurred during 
the earlier periods. It may be measured by the height of the top 
of the terrace above the stream plus the thickness of flood-plain 
deposits laid down since the cutting of the terrace. The maximum 
thickness of the flood-plain deposits is not known, and the altitude 
of the terrace has not been measured. From estimates of the two 
it is believed that their sum probably does not exceed 200 feet any¬ 
where on the lower Gila. The cause of the rejuvenation is not yet 
definitely determined. It is highly probable that renewed crustal 
disturbance took place at this time. This movement was probably 
similar to those which preceded it and resulted in uplift of the 
mountains of the region. It appears to have been one of the prin¬ 
cipal causes if not the major cause of stream rejuvenation, although 
other processes may also have had a notable influence. 

Deposition of the flood plain .—Below the terrace formed during 
the period of erosion just described is a flood plain composed of silt 
and fine sand, with subordinate amounts of gravel in places, brought 
by the tributaries from the near-by mountains. The thickness of 
the flood-plain deposits is not known. Most of the wells sunk in 


94 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


them are shallow, and few logs have been kept. The presence of 
these deposits shows that there was renewed deposition after the 
cutting of the principal set of terraces. 

Channel in the flood plain .—Gila River when first seen by white 
men presented a very different aspect from that of to-day. (See 
pp. 64-67.) It had a well-defined channel with hard banks, on which 
cottonwoods and other green-leaved plants were growing. The cur¬ 
rent was swift and deep enough even in comparatively dry portions 
of the year to make fording difficult, except at a few places, and to 
float a flat boat of some size. Fish were plentiful enough to be de¬ 
pended on as food throughout the year by a considerable number of 
Indians. Strangest of all to one who knows the silt-laden waters of 
the present stream, the water of Gila River is reported to have been 
clear and sea-green. 

It is evident that in the lower portion of its course the Gila at that 
time had become confined to a definite channel cut in the flood-plain 
deposits last described, and, at least during most of the year, it was 
not carrying much if any sediment. The* change that brought this 
about may have been climatic, or it may have been a slight renewal 
of uplift. 'Whatever it was, the erosion did not continue for a long 
time. There is no evidence that a very deep channel was cut, or that 
any great amount of the soft and recently deposited material of the 
flood plain was removed. 

Present deposition .—At the present time Gila River in the lower 
portions of its course is depositing rather than eroding. The definite 
channel described by the pioneer visitors to the region has disap¬ 
peared. Instead there are shifting channels with crumbling banks 
of barren silt forming linked patterns on the flood plain, which 
change with every flood. 

The reasons for this change may be in part climatic. It is pos¬ 
sible that less rain falls now in an average year than it did when the 
Jesuit fathers first visited the region. But this is certainly not the 
only reason. Much of the change has occurred during the period 
for which rainfall records have been kept. Gila River had a definite 
channel with hard, verdure-covered banks in 1889 (p. 67), but the 
rainfall records at Yuma show that no noticeable decrease in the 
rainfall at that place has occurred since 1869. Long precipitation 
records are also, available for Phoenix, Buckeye, and other places in 
the region, and these likewise do not show any noticeable decrease 
in the precipitation. One of the causes, and perhaps the principal 
cause, of the change has been the interference of man with the work 
of nature. One phase of this interference has already been men¬ 
tioned. (See p. 67.) The changes wrought by man in the moun¬ 
tains in the upper part of the drainage area of Gila River have 
probably been more effective in changing the character of the lower 


IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 


95 


portion of the river than those in the lower Gila region itself. The 
natural run-off in the mountain areas has been interfered with bv 
dams and other structures. Much of the water that would other¬ 
wise flow into the Colorado has been taken out for irrigation at 
different places in the upper and middle reaches of the Gila. The 
removal of forest cover in places has left the surface unprotected 
from the attack of the forces of erosion. As is forcibly pointed out 
by Olmstead, 59 the amount of erosion in the mountains is now con¬ 
siderable. Such occurrences tend to cause the streams to become 
overloaded with sediment in the mountains and consequently to de¬ 
posit part of their load in the lower courses. However, the change 
in Gila River began before most of the work referred to by Olm¬ 
stead was done. Therefore, while this work has probably helped to 
bring about the present conditions on the Gila, it is neither the 
primary nor the principal cause of the alteration which has taken 
place. This cause must be sought in some change in climatic con¬ 
ditions, or in earth movements small in amount but sufficient to 
disturb the equilibrium of the stream, or in a combination of these 
two. Much more careful and detailed work must be done in this 
region before definite conclusions can be reached in regard to the 
last recorded change in the character of the lower Gila River. As 
this change has so direct and important a bearing on the present 
and future development of agriculture in the region, it is highly 
desirable that it be clearly understood and correctly interpreted. 

HISTORY OF IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER WEST 
OF GILA RIVER RESERVATION . 00 

By C. It. Olberg. 

Early in the work of the Gila surveys of the United States Indian 
Service, it was recognized that the diversions west of the Gila River 
Reservation were not of sufficient importance to warrant a detailed 
survey or an exhaustive investigation. Accordingly, a reconnas- 
sance survey was made of that portion of the valley, beginning at 
the west line of the reservation and extending down the river to 
the farthest irrigated lands of the Gila Bend district. (See Fig. 
15.) All available historical data were collected in connection with 
the present diversions, but only general information was sought 
respecting the many abandoned canals. 

59 Olmstead, F. H., Flood control of the Gila River in Graham County, Ariz.: 65th 
Cong., 3d sess., S. Doc. 436, 1919. 

60 This account is taken substantially from Appendix A of “ Report on the water sup¬ 
ply and the estimated cost of the proposed San Carlos irrigation project on the Gila 
River, Ariz.,” submitted by C. R. Olberg, superintendent of irrigation, through W. M. 
Reed, chief engineer, U. S. Indian Irrigation Service, Los Angeles, Calif., November 1, 
1915. Minor modifications have been made here and there to incorporate later informa¬ 
tion. 



R.IW. R.IE. 


96 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


o 

(VJ 

CO 

OJ 


CVl 

co 

■tf 

in 

CO 

°rO 

CO 

O) 

o 



to 

JL) 

o_, 

«- 


o 

CO 


o 

N 


o_ 


o- 


o J 


Figube 15.—Sketch map of lower Gila River showing past and present irrigated areas of projects utilizing river water. 







































































































































IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 


97 


PREVIOUS IRRIGATION. 

The former irrigation by the Indians of this region is mentioned 
in several of the accounts of early explorations. Emory, 61 for ex¬ 
ample, states: 

We know that the Maricopas have moved gradually from the Gulf of 
California to their present position in juxtaposition with the Pimas. They 
were found as late as 1826 at the mouth of the Gila, and Dr. Anderson, who 
passed from Sonora to California in 1828, found them, as near as could be 
reckoned from his notes, about the place we are now camped [Gila Bend]. 

More or less abundant evidences of old Indian or prehistoric 
irrigation occur at several places along this portion of the river. 
The most easily traceable are found just above Gila Bend, in Enter¬ 
prise Valley, and also just below Gila Bend, near the Painted Rock 
Mountains. 

The earliest irrigation by white settlers in this part of the Gila 
Valley took place in connection with the establishment of the early 
overland stage stations. The first stage line was established in 1857 
and was operated twice monthly between Fort Yuma and Sacaton, 
a distance of about 190 miles. 62 

No irrigation of importance, however, took place until the early 
seventies. Browne, in writing of his travels up the Gila in 1864, 
gave a very good description of the country but failed to mention 
any irrigation. Hinton, 63 on the other hand, who wrote on this same 
territory in 1876, stated that irrigation was being carried on at 
several of the stage stations and that cultivation was started in the 
Redondo district, near the junction of Gila and Colorado rivers. 
He said: 

The owners of the San Ysidro ranch, in this locality, are Jos€ M. Redondo 
and his brother. * * * Mr. Redondo has been trying to irrigate continu¬ 
ously since 1862, but though he spent considerable money he was not success¬ 
ful until this location was selected. The canals on the place are 27 miles long, 
and work was commenced in 1871, and at least $25,000 was spent before a 
cent was realized. 

The Redondo irrigation district, which later included all the above- 
mentioned canals, extended 80 miles up the Gila from Yuma. Other 
comments of Hinton on his trip are as follows: 

Excellent crops of wheat and barley are grown at Mohawk station. * * * 

A good ranch on the river bottom supplies the station [Antelope Peak] 
and shows that with industry and water the seeming desert is amazingly 
fertile. * * * 

The first stage station out of Yuma is Gila City. Several ranches are passed, 
showing that Gila bottom is cultivated. 

81 Emory, W. H., Notes of a military reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Mis¬ 
souri, to San Diego, in California: 30th Cong., 1st sess., Ex. Doc. 41, p. 89, 1848. 

“Browne, J. R., Adventures in the Apache country, p. 292, Harper & Bros., 1869. 

“Hinton, R. J., Handbook to Arizona, pp. 278-279, 1878. 



98 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


A pamphlet published in 1892 from data collected in 1889 and 
prepared by the Citizens Executive Committee of Yuma County con¬ 
tains the following* table: 


Canals in Yuma County. 


Name. 


Mohawk.. 
Redondo.. 
Farmers.. 
South Gila 
Purdy. 
Contreras. 
Saunders.. 

Araby. 

Antelope.. 
Toltec. 


Length 

(miles). 


35 

5 

13 

22 

10 

7 

10 

81 

7 

3 


120J 


Capacity 

(miner’s 

inches). 

Esti¬ 

mated 

cost. 

11,000 
600 
5,000 
8,000 
9,000 
3,000 
5,000 
3, 500 
2,000 
3,000 

$150,000 
8,000 
15,000 
45,000 
25,000 
9,000 
25,000 
35,000 
10,000 
15,000 






Area 

reclaim- 

able 

(acres). 


40,000 

1.500 
10,000 
12,000 

7,000 

2,000 

4,000 

2,000 

2.500 


81,000 


The same report contains the following statement in reference to 
the canals mentioned in it: 

In the event of the completion of the above-described canals in accordance 
with the original plans of the projectors, the total length would reach 241 
miles, reclaiming over 267,000 acres of bottom, valley, and mesa land at an 
estimated cost of $1,318,000. 

A summary 64 showing the extent and cost of the new canals 
farther up the Gila in Maricopa County follows: 


Canals in Maricopa County , 1901. 


Name. 

Year 

first 

used. 

Length 

(miles). 

Average 

width 

(feet). 

Capacity 

(second 

feet). 

Esti¬ 

mated 

cost. 

Buckeye. 

1886 

28 

16 

300 

$80,000 

Enterprise. 

1886 

12 

14 

100 

io;ooo 

East Riverside (Gila Bend). 

1893 

20 

17 

675 

125; 000 

Lower Gila Bend (Riverside). 

1885 

20 

15 

250 

25; 000 

Aztec. 

1885 

14 

12 

250 

6; 000 

Palomas. 

1887 

22 

15 

60 

io; ooo 

Arlington. 

1901 

15 



12,000 







For the last two years no water has been diverted into the Aztec canal. A 
conflict between the users in times of scarcity and a lack of system in the 
division of the water has resulted in expensive litigation. The canal was 
abandoned, with the result that the alfalfa fields and orchards have perished. 
The ranches still keep up their assessment work on each canal in order to 
maintain its franchise. The Lower Gila Bend canal has not been in operation 
for several years but is being repaired, and irrigation will be resumed. 

Of. the canals in the Yuma County group, none are at present in 
use. [The Antelope canal, rehabilitated to a certain extent by the 


64 Report of the governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the Interior, 1901, p. 42. 















































IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 99 

Antelope Valley Canal Co. before 1915 (see pp. 105-106), was aban¬ 
doned when seen in 1917.—C. P. R.] 

In the Maricopa County group three canals—the Enterprise, the 
Arlington, and the Buckeye—are at present in operation. [The 
Gila Water & Land Co.’s canal was put into operation in 1917, and 
the Gillespie dam was constructed in 1921.—C. P. R.] The other 
irrigation projects were constructed with little regard to the water 
supply, and consequently, after brief attempts at cultivation, they 
were gradually abandoned. A few have from time to/ time been put 
in shape and used, only to be soon again abandoned. Others, like 
the Mohawk or the Palomas, have had comparatively longer periods 
of usefulness or prosperity. The Mohawk and Palomas districts, 
situated on opposite sides of the river, enjoyed for four or five years 
prior to 1890 a rapid agricultural development, and it is reported 
that from 1,000 to 3,000 acres in these districts was under cultivation. 
Davis 68 in 1897 estimated from the best data then available that 
1,000 acres was under cultivation along the Gila in Yuma County, 
which would include the Mohawdv and Antelope districts. Irriga¬ 
tion in this region is referred to in several of the reports of the 
Territorial governors. In the report for 1901 66 the following state¬ 
ments are made: 

The largest canal taken from the Gila River is the Mohawk, which heads 
above the town of the same name. It is 23 miles long, cost probably $150,000, 
and covers between 25,000 and 30,000 acres. For several years previous to 1899 
the canal was neglected, and many of the farmers left the valley. In that year 
it was again put into condition, and the water supply having been plentiful a 
small acreage was brought under cultivation. 

There are large tracts of good land along the banks of the Gila River, aggre¬ 
gating 30,000 acres or more, lying in the Mohawk Valley, but the water supply 
can not be depended upon, and the rainfall is slight. The history of irrigation 
in the Gila Valley is full of expensive litigation, due to the continual contests 
in the courts over prior water rights. A number of canals on the Gila near 
the headwaters are being enlarged, and new ones are taken out from time to 
time. As a consequence, the periods of scarcity or of no water in the canals 
below are more and more prolonged each year. 

Intermittent irrigation continued, however, until the disastrous 
flood of 1905, when the canal headings were so badly washed out that 
these old districts were abandoned. In 1914 a little overflow irriga¬ 
tion was going on in the Palomas Valley, and about 500 acres in the 
Mohawk Valley was being rather unsuccessfully irrigated by means 
of pumps. The canals below the Palomas and Mohawk canals, such as 
the Redondo and the Araby, evidently went out of commission some 
time prior to the flood of 1905—that is, before the canals higher up 

65 Davis, A. P., Irrigation near Phoenix, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 2, 
p. 94, 1897. 

69 Report of the governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the Interior, 1901, p. 50. 

49417—23-8 






100 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


on the Gila or in the Mohawk Valley were abandoned. At Sentinel, 
above the Antelope Valley, are the diversion site and headworks of 
the South Gila (Sentinel) canal, now owned by the Southwestern 
Fruit & Irrigation Co. This canal was constructed in the late 
eighties and is 22 miles long. Davis 67 gives a brief description of it 
and a section of a proposed dam across Gila River. Several unsuc¬ 
cessful attempts have been made to construct a permanent diversion 
dam at the canal heading. No land was ever cultivated under this 
project, and it was only during times of flood that water flowed in 
the canal. Construction work has been carried on to provide the 
canal with suitable headworks, and the company intended to con¬ 
struct a high dam at this point for storage. [This irrigation project 
is now abandoned.—C. P. R.] 

Above the Sentinel or South Gila project and about 20 miles 
northwest of Gila Bend is the old Dendora canal. This canal was 
excavated in 1882 for a distance of about 7 miles, and a Afoot 
rock-fill dam was constructed across the Gila. During the first 
flood after its construction the dam went out, and no land under 
the canal was ever cultivated. It was proposed to irrigate about 
5,000 acres in the Oatman Flat district by this project. The con¬ 
struction of a storage dam also was contemplated. Efforts to re¬ 
habilitate this canal have been made, but without success. 

In the vicinity of Gila Bend and just above it there are several 
large abandoned canals and irrigation projects. 

The Citrus canal, which heads within the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, was built in the early eighties. Like many others, it 
had but a short life. In a report of Superintendent of Irrigation 
J. W. Martin, of this Service, dated August 4, 1909, the following 
reference is made to this canal: “It has been out of use for some 
years, and the headgates are filled with mud.” 

The next large abandoned canal above the Citrus is the Lower 
Gila Bend, constructed in 1885. 68 In 1901 this canal had been out 
of use for several years, but subsequently a new heading was con¬ 
structed and the canal was successfully operated until 1908, when 
its heading was again destroyed by a flood. Since 1908 this canal 
has been continuously out of service. 

The largest of these ill-advised and now abandoned projects is 
variously known as the East Riverside, Gila Bend, or Peoria canal. 
The main canal for this project heads at what is known as Woolseys 
Butte, the present site of the Enterprise canal heading. This 
project was started in 1891, and it is reported that $1,000,000 was 

67 Davis. A. P., Irrigation near Phoenix, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 2, 
pp. 76-77, 1897. 

6S Report of the governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the Interior, 1901, p. 42. 



IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 


101 


spent in its construction. A brief description of this project is given 

bv Davis. 00 
%/ 

After a large portion of the dam was washed out for a second 
time in 1895, and still more of it in 1905, no water is known to have 
flowed through this canal except in times of extremely high flow, 
and no successful irrigation has been carried on under this canal 
since the flood of 1905. During the few years that this ditch was 
in commission, it is reported, about 1,000 acres was put under 
cultivation. On a large portion of this land but one crop (grain) 
was ever grown, but other smaller patches of land were cultivated 
for several years. Most of the land formerly irrigated under this 
ditch has since been washed away. 

This company, as well as several others having projects below the 
Gila River Reservation, have made filings and have expressed their 
intention to construct large dams and store the waters of the Gila, 
but nothing has been done toward the fulfillment of these proposals. 

Other canals of lesser proportions than those discussed above 
have been constructed on the lower Gila, but all of them, like the 
larger canals, have been out of commission for at least 10 years. 
The detailed history of these abandoned canals is not readily avail¬ 
able. Little has been written regarding these old ditches, and local 
information is very meager. However, it is generally known that 
they were for the most part ill advised and that they were never 
put to beneficial use. Certain work, such as the occasional cleaning 
out of a portion of the canal or headworks, has been done on a few 
of these canals, but this work has been desultory and has been pro¬ 
ductive of no beneficial results. On the lower Gila there was and to 
a certain extent there still is a custom among persons owning or 
interested in a canal to do a certain amount of assessment work on 
the canal each year and thus hold the “ franchise.” Owing to the 
very scanty supply of water available during the dry season (see 
pp. 106-108), it is quite obvious that irrigation in this section by 
means of river flood water alone is hardly feasible. The shortage 
of water undoubtedly accounts for the abandonment and present 
general disuse of these numerous and expensive canals. 

PRESENT IRRIGATION. 

Buckeye .canal .—At the west line of the Gila River Reservation 
the Gila is joined by its principal tributary, the Salt. About 3 miles 
farther west, down the river, the Gila receives the discharge of a 
smaller tributary, the Agua Fria. This stream, especially near its 
mouth, is dry the greater part of the year. Just below the mouth 
of the Agua Fria is the rock and brush diversion dam of the Buckeye 


w Davis, A. P., op. cit., p. 47. 



102 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


canal, on the north bank of the Gila in sec. 34, T. 1 N., R. 1. W., Gila 
and Salt River base and meridian. 

This canal is 24 miles long and is intended to irrigate about 20,000 
acres of land north of the river. The appropriation of water for 
this ditch is based on a filing made in 1885. Construction was 
started the same year, and the first irrigation was done about 1888. 
Each year thereafter the amount of land irrigated was increased, 
and at the time of this survey 14,540 acres was under cultivation. 
[More than 19,000 acres is reported to have been under irrigation in 
1917.—C. P. R.] This canal is owned by a mutual company, com¬ 
posed of the farmers under the canal. Not all the water users, 
however, are stockholders, as some of these farmers buy outright 
the water they need for their lands. In May, 1914, the stockholders 
of this company authorized a bond issue of $30,000 to be used for 

draining, washing, and reclaiming 3,500 acres of alkali lands. 

Of the total land under cultivation, about 90 per cent is in alfalfa, 

and the remainder in grain, sorghum, and pasture. Cattle grazing 
and feeding is an important industry in this section. At a point 
half a mile below its heading there is a bridge across the Buckeye 
canal. The canal at this point is 15 feet wide on the bottom and 
25 feet wide on top and has a water depth of 34 feet. On May 29, 
1914, this canal was flowing, by actual measurement, 109 second-feet. 
This measurement was taken during the low-water season and rep¬ 
resents, at least for that year, the minimum flow. The maximum 
capacity of the canal is 200 second-feet. 

Corbett canal .—About 3 miles below the Buckeye canal, but above 
the Arlington, is a small pumping plant known as the Corbett. This 
plant pumps directly from the river and at the time of this survey 
was irrigating about 120 acres, to which the water was conducted 
through a small ditch. The plant consists of a gas engine and a 
14-inch centrifugal pump, which was put in operation about 1910. 

Arlington canal .—The next canal diversion down the river from 
the Buckeye is the Arlington, which is on the same side (north) of 
Gila River as the Buckeve but about 13 miles farther down. The 
Buckeye and Arlington districts are in the same general valley, 
which is practically a westward extension of the larger Salt River 
valley. Hassayampa River, which joins the Gila about 74 miles 
below the Arlington diversion, is generally considered to be the 
dividing line between these two districts, although the Buckeye water 
is siphoned across the Hassayampa and irrigates a small area on its 
west bank. 

The Arlington canal is owned by the Arlington Canal Co., a coop¬ 
erative organization composed of farmers who own the land under 


IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 


103 


the canal. The canal was built in 1889-90 and the notice of water 
appropriation was filed in July, 1907. This canal, at the time of 
the survey, was irrigating about 4,800 acres and was intended to 
irrigate several hundred acres more. In 1913—14 a permanent low- 
water concrete diversion dam was constructed and considerable work 
was done on this project. The irrigated land is practically all 
planted to alfalfa, and cattle feeding is an important industry. 

The main canal is about 15 miles long and at a point above the 
uppermost of its laterals had, at the time of this survey, a bottom 
width of 10 feet, a top width of 17 feet, and a water depth of 3 
feet. A flow of 53 second-feet was measured with a current meter 
on June 1, 1914. This quantity, according to several farmers in the 
district, represented practically the minimum flow during the year. 
The canal has a maximum capacity of about 75 second-feet. The 
siphon built to carry this canal under Hassayampa River is 300 feet 
long and has a rectangular section of 4 by 6 feet in the clear. 

Joshlin ditch .—The ditch owned by Mr. Joshlin is on the opposite 
or south side of the river from the Buckeye district and heads half 
a mile below the point of diversion of the Arlington canal. It was 
constructed in 1911, and at the time of this survey the land cultivated 
under it amounted to about 225 acres. This ditch is of small sec¬ 
tion : the bottom width is 2 or 3 feet, the top width 5 feet, and the 
depth of water 1 foot. By meter measurement made on June 1, 
1914, a flow of only 1.4 second-feet was recorded. Owing to the 
nearness of this diversion to the intake of the Arlington canal, very 
little water is available during the dry season. [The Gila Land & 
Water Co. (see p. 154) started an irrigation project here in 1917.— 
C. P. R.] 

James Bent canal .—The water for the James Bent canal [now 
abandoned.—C. P. R.] is diverted from the east bank of the Gila 
at a point 13 miles below the Arlington heading. It served to irri¬ 
gate about 300 acres near Gila Bend, and the first appropriation 
was made in 1910. At the time of the survey this ditch was found 
in a very bad state of repair, and the land covered by it appeared 
to be reverting rapidly to a state of disuse or abandonment. 

The cross section of the ditch in its present condition has a bottom 
width of 4 feet, a top width of 6 feet, and a possible water depth of 
2 feet. On June 1, 1914, the canal was flowing 4| second-feet, ac¬ 
cording to meter measurements. Originally the capacity of the 
ditch was probably 10 or 15 second-feet, although its grade and the 
consequent velocity are very small. The water supply for this canal 
appears to be inadequate, particularly as the proprietors of the 
Enterprise canal, who divert water 2 miles below, claim prior right. 

Enterprise canal .—A low mountain ridge entering the valley on 
the north side of the river terminates the Arlington and Buckeye 


104 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


region. This ridge ends abruptly, terminating at the river’s edge 
in a steep bluff that has been called Woolseys Butte. [Not to be 
confused with Woolsey Peak, which is about 8 miles southwest.— 
C. P. R.] The close proximity of the Estrella Mountains [Buckeye 
Hills on maps in this report], on the east side of the river, to Wool¬ 
seys Butte forms a relatively narrow channel through which flows 
the river. This short narrow canyon makes a very favorable diver¬ 
sion site, and in 1915 it was used for that purpose by the Enterprise 
Canal Co. At an earlier time it was used as the dam site for the 
Upper Gila Bend project, referred to under the heading “ Previous 
irrigation” (pp. 100-101). The diversion for the Enterprise canal 
is in sec. 28, T. 2 S., R. 5 W. The greater portion of this canal was 
constructed during 1885. The original heading was 1-| miles below 
the present site, and the diversion works used in 1915 were con¬ 
structed in 1901-2. The canal has a bottom width of 4 feet, a top 
width of 10| feet, and a water depth of 2^ feet. 

The Enterprise canal was owned by a corporation known as the 
Enterprise Canal Co. The stockholders were the owners of the land 
irrigated, and most of them were engaged in cattle raising. At the 
time of this survey about 700 acres was being irrigated by this canal, 
and 2,000 acres additional was susceptible of irrigation. During the 
years of heavy flow in the river other land was cultivated. Nearly 
all the irrigated land was planted to alfalfa, but some sorghum and 
grain were also grown. 

To the favorable location of the dam apparently is due the excellent 
supply of return water which was provided. Meter measurement of 
the flow in this canal, made on May 30, 1914, showed that 25 second- 
feet was being diverted. This quantity was somewhat in excess of 
the minimum flow, according to Mr. Montgomery, president of the 
Enterprise Canal Co., who stated that during the dry season prob¬ 
ably not more than 15 second-feet could be depended upon. 

Gillespie dam . 70 —The most recent irrigation development of im¬ 
portance in this region is the construction of the Gillespie dam across 
Gila River, a view of which is shown in Plate XIII. This dam was 
completed early in 1921. It is on the site of the Enterprise dam and 
of the old Peoria dam of the Upper Gila Bend project, in sec. 28, 
T. 2 S., R. 5 W. The present structure is a concrete diversion dam 
1,800 feet long, of the multiple-arch type. It is proposed to divert 
water from Gila River into a canal about 40 miles long recently com¬ 
pleted, which is to furnish water for irrigating land below the dam. 
Most of this land is in the vicinity of Gila Bend. It is stated by 

70 The description of the Gillespie dam is written by C. P. Ross from data derived 
from the State Land Commission of Arizona in a letter dated Dec. 20, 1921, from a 
pamphlet issued by the Gila Water Co., owner, and from letters from E. C. La Rue, 
hydraulic engineer, U. S. Geol. Survey, Apr. 26 and May 15, 1923. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 49S PLATE XIII 



GILLESPIE DAM. 







U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XJV 



A. A TYPICAL GOOD PLAINS ROAD. 

The old road between Agua Caliente and Arlington, in the big wash in the plain west of Woolsey Tank,, 
on the west side of the Gila Bend Mountains. Shows also the terraces bordering the wash. 



B. ROAD ACROSS HASSAYAMPA PLAIN. 
Showing ruts in silt plain after prolonged drought 





IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 


105 


the Gila Water Co., which owns the project, that 100,000 acres of 
desert land can be brought under cultivation by this means. Early 
in 1923 a tract of 10,000 acres was being cleared and 1 prepared for 
cultivation. 

Papago canal .—The next canal taking water from the Gila below 
the Enterprise diversion is the Papago canal, on the Gila Bend Indian 
Reservation, 19 miles below. The Papago canal was constructed in 
1891 by L. S. Anderson. For several years prior to that date the 
land now under it was irrigated from the Lower Gila Bend (River¬ 
side) canal, which was constructed in 1885 and was abandoned 
sometime prior to 1900. 

A five-sixths interest in the Papago canal was held by Mr. Ander¬ 
son. The Gila Bend Indians hold the remaining one-sixth in¬ 
terest, and they have irrigated about 82 acres by means of the water 
thus obtained. 

The Papago canal is 8 feet wide on the bottom and 15 feet wide 
on top; it has a water depth of about 2 feet and a maximum capacity 
of about 30 second-feet. No meter measurements were made at the 
time of this survey, because only a small quantity of water was then 
flowing into the canal. 

Several investigations and surveys have been made by the Indian 
Office with a view of providing additional water for this reservation, 
but no money has yet been appropriated for the work. The Gila 
Land & Cattle Co., which owns and cultivates land to the west of 
the Gila River Reservation, has acquired Mr. Anderson’s interest 
in the canal and at the time of this survey was irrigating 730 acres. 

Antelope Valley canal .—Between the Anderson heading at Gila 
Bend and the mouth of the Gila at Yuma the Antelope Valley canal 
[not in use in 1918] is the only diversion of importance, but there 
is at least one of the older or abandoned canals which takes water 
from the river during extreme high water and is supplemented by 
pumps during the remainder of the irrigating season. The Antelope 
Valley canal heads in the SW. i sec. 21, T. 8 S., R. 17 W. This was 
also the point of diversion of the old Antelope canal which was 
mentioned in the report of the Citizens’ Executive Committee of 
Yuma County for 1889, previously cited, and it therefore appears 
that the present project is a rehabilitation of the old canal. The An¬ 
telope Valley Canal Co. bases its water rights upon a fifing made 
May 1,1908, on 5,000 inches of water. Filings for a right of way and 
reservoir site were made and approved at the Phoenix land office 
April 15, 1909. The Antelope Valley Canal Co. has applied to the 
United States Land Office asking that stock in this company be 
accepted as final proof in desert entries under the canal. 

A report favorable to the project was submitted in 1914 by R. G. 
Mead, field engineer of the Land Office, and a further supplemental 


106 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


report, also favorable, was submitted in April, 1915. From a copy 
of these two reports kindly furnished by Mr. Mead the following 
information has been obtained: 

The project is intended to irrigate 10,000 acres during five months 
of the year. Delivery of water began in 1909. The area ready to 
receive water on November 1, 1914, was 977 acres, and since that date 
125 acres additional has been put under cultivation. 

The company is a mutual organization composed of landowners 
under the canal. Until 1913, when a good heading was put in, the 
Antelope canal was supplied with water by means of a pump, the 
water being drawn directly from the river. This pumping plant is 
no longer in use. A number of the farmers under this canal are 
installing auxiliary pumping plants to supplement the flood-water 
supply. 

AMOUNT OF WATER AVAILABLE FOR IRRIGATION. 

With the exception of the gage recently established near Florence 
in connection with this investigation, the first gaging station on the 
Gila above the diversion west of the Gila River Reservation is at 
Kelvin, 90 miles upstream from the west line of the reservation. 
Between Kelvin and the Buckeye district many diversions take water 
from the Gila, and at least two tributaries contribute to its flow. 
The records of this station are therefore of no great value, especially 
during periods of low water, in determining the available supply 
below the reservation. 

On the river just opposite Sentinel a gaging station has been in 
operation for several years. This station is approximately in the 
center of the district under consideration, being just above the 
Palomas and Mohawk valleys and just below the Gila Bend territory. 


Discharge of Gila River at Sentinel, in acre-feet. a 



1913 

1914 

January. 

(ft) 

(ft) 

(ft) 

(ft) 

(ft) 

(ft) 

120 

39,600 
146,000 

February. 

March. 

22,800 

April. 

2,810 

30 

May. 

June. 

0 


12.700 

42.700 
29,900 
45,500 
54,400 

August.•. 

2,350 

0 

September. 

October. 

0 

N ovember. 

4,710 

17,000 

December.. 

c 39,200 


• 

24,470 

435,640 


° Discharge June-September, 1913, estimated by C. C. Jacob, district engineer, U. S. 
Geol. Survey, Phoenix, Ariz.; not published. Discharge October, 1913, to August, 1914, 
from U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 389, p. 162, 1917. Discharge October— 
December, 1914, from U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 409, p. 161, 1918. 

6 No record available. 
c December 1-20 only 






















IRRIGATION ALONG GILA RIVER. 


107 


For three years a gaging station was maintained on the Gila at 
Gila City, 14 miles above Yuma, and inasmuch as this station is at 
what might be called the end of the district under consideration, 
some idea of the river flow in this district may be had from these 
observations. They are given below. 


Discharge of Gila River at Gila City [Dome), in acre-feet. 



1904 a 

1905 b 

1906 c 

January. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5,792 

139,600 

41,700 

32,800 

6,486 

0 

189.200 
680,300 

1,020.000 

768.200 
299,700 

43,140 
4,341 

0 

2,957 

11,010 

271.200 
375,100 

136,000 
168,000 
576,000 
422,000 
122,000 
4,580 
0 

25,100 
4,280 
0 
0 

332,000 

February. 

March. 

April. 

May. 



August. 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 


226,400 

3,665,200 

1,790,000 


° U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 133, p. 206, 1905. 

b U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 175, p. 166, 1906. 

c U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 211, p. 125, 1908. 


At Yuma the Reclamation Service has made observations of the 
flow of the Gila since 1903. 


Discharge of Gila River at Yuma, in acre-feet. a 



1903 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

January. 

0 

63,500 

0 

71,900 

213,000 

60,000 

0 

February. 

0 

59,400 

391,500 

175,100 

9,200 

40,000 

0 

March. 

0 

289, 000 

162, 600 

147,400 

500 

84,000 

121,000 

April. 

30,228 

71,500 

0 

96,000 

1,500 

0 

70,000 

Mav. 

799 

0 

0 

14,200 

0 

0 

600 

June. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

July. 

0 

0 

0 

21,000 

0 

34,700 

12,500 

August. 

9,200 

0 

94,700 

54,500 

0 

0 

39, 700 

September. 

7,319 

400 

44,200 

81, 000 

0 

0 

0 

October. 

13,650 

93, 200 

0 

0 

0 

30, 200 

1, 400 

November. 

0 

58,000 

0 

0 

0 

17,300 

0 

December. 

0 

13,600 

404,000 

0 

0 

0 

0 


61,196 

648, 600 

1,097,000 

661, 200 

224, 200 

266,200 

245,200 


<* Discharge for 1903 from U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 100, p. 27, 1904. 
Discharge for 1907-1912 furnished by U. S. Reclamation Service. 


It will be seen from these tables that the annual run-off at these 
stations ranges from 24,470 acre-feet in 1913 to 3,665,200 acre-feet 
in 1905. It is also apparent that the river is frequently dry during 
the time of maximum irrigation drought, and that the dry season 
is often of considerable duration. It is therefore very questionable 
whether flood-water irrigation can be successfully practiced on the 
lower Gila. 

The few measurements available include the two highest flood 
years of recent times, namely, 1905 and 1914. If only these measure¬ 
ments were considered a high average annual run-off would be 































































108 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


found, and any conclusions based on these data might therefore be 
misleading. 

Comparisons of the run-off of Gila River at Yuma and Sentinel 
with the run-off measured farther upstream at Kelvin and San 
Carlos and also on Salt River indicate that during a period covering 
seven years prior to 1905 this portion of the valley experienced a 
very serious drought. 

The success of irrigation immediately below the Gila River Indian 
Reservation and as far down the river as Gila Bend has been due 
to the return or seepage flow at several points in the river bottom. 
This return flow is used almost entirely by the most successful of 
these canals, especially during dry years and the dry season. No 
measurements of the flow in these different districts covering a 
considerable period of time have been made, so that the amount of 
this return flow is not definitely known. Measurements made about 
June 1, 1914, on the canals above Gila Bend (see p. 103), record a 
■combined flow of 193 second-feet. From conversation with farmers 
living in this district it was ascertained that these measurements 
were made at a time of low water supply, so that they represent the 
minimum flow during the year. ’ 

In considering the return flow on the lower Gila, it is important 
to examine the effects of the extensive irrigation that has taken place 
in the Salt River valley under the Roosevelt project. Mr. H. L. 
Hancock, water commissioner of the Buckeye district, states that 
the return flow at the head of the Buckeye canal has increased at 
least 100 per cent since the Roosevelt project has been in operation. 
An increased return flow has also been observed at the headings of 
other canals as far west as Gila Bend. Inasmuch as practically the 
entire return flow is diverted from the river at each of the successive 
canal intakes, it cai* not be expected that the return flow available 
to the lower canals would be in proportion to that available to 
those above. Very little if any return surface flow is available from 
the river below Gila Bend. 

IRRIGATION WITH GROUND WATER IN COLORADO 
RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. 

By A. L. Harkis. 

[Note. —III 1915 and 1916 an investigation and test of ground water for 
irrigation on the Colorado River Indian Reservation was made for the Arizona 
State land commissioner by A. L. Harris, consulting engineer. The report made 
by Mr. Harris was kindly furnished by Mr. W. A. Moeur,- State land commis¬ 
sioner, and the following statements are abstracted from it.—C. P. R.] 

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE AREA. 

The arable lands in the Colorado River Indian Reservation belong 
principally to the so-called flood-plain or bottom lands, composed of 


IRRIGATION IN COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. 109 


the alluvial deposits laid down in the past by Colorado River. These 
lands amount to about 86,500 acres in the gross, measured south of 
the north line of T. 7 1ST., but the area capable of development is con¬ 
siderably less on account of sloughs, alkali spots, sand hills, and 
sections subject to overflow. There is also an area of 3,000 or 4,000 
acres in and about the Parker town site, now in the desert condition, 
which is arable but for which it will be more expensive to obtain 
irrigation water. 

The bottom lands in general slope gently and evenly toward the 
river, though they appear nearly flat to the eye. Much of the area 
is covered with an uneven growth of brush and some moderate¬ 
sized trees. Mesquite, cat claw, and small brush prevail on the 
higher ground; willow, water rushes, arrow weed, and cottonwood 
grow in the vicinity of water. 

Little or no use has ever been made of these lands except to sup¬ 
port some range cattle and for cutting a small amount of firewood 
by the Indians, who live almost entirely at a considerable distance to 
the north. The lands are similar in character to those of the Palo 
Yerde Valley, across the river in California, where extensive agricul¬ 
tural development has been accomplished both by diverting water 
from the river and by pumping from wells. 

The bottom lands lie somewhat over 300 feet above sea level. The 
-arable mesa lands near Parker are about 75 feet above river level, 
but the bottom lands are nowhere very much above river level, and 
during floods considerable areas are overflowed by backwater from 
the sloughs that communicate with the river. Each overflow deposits 
a bed of fine red silt but does not generally injure the brush and 
trees or erode the ground. 

FIELD WORK. 

The work was carried on with a view not only to collecting data 
by tests of a scientific nature but also to making demonstrations 
under practical conditions and on a commercial scale. Locations for 
test wells were selected at points several miles apart and on areas 
differing in situation, in order to get representative information 
(Fig. 16). The wells were made 12 and 16 inches in diameter, which 
has been considered proper for many wells in this part of the country 
supplying water for irrigation, and from 75 to 138 feet in depth. 
Each well had a permanent sheet-metal casing fit for use in an 
actual development of the land around it. Conditions of pumping 
development in the similar areas across the river in California were 
observed, and a considerable number of small borings or drive- 
point tests were made to determine the depth to ground-water level 
and quality of water. As shown by these drive-point tests the depth 
to the water table is generally not less than 8 feet or more than 20 


110 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


feet. Tests of the quality of water for irrigation were made in 
nine separate localities, at two-thirds of which the water was found 
to be fit for irrigation and at one-third not fit unless used in com- 



Figure 16.—Sketch map of Colorado Indian Reservation showing location of test wells 

(From map by Indian Service.) 




























IRRIGATION IN COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. Ill 

bination with water of better quality. Where bad water was found, 
good water usually occurs at other points within a reasonable dis¬ 
tance. 

WATER-BEARING DEPOSITS AND SOURCE OE WATER. 

The logs of the wells show fine silts near the surface, then sands 
of coarseness increasing with depth, and finally gravels and cobble¬ 
stones at a depth of about 100 feet. A few clay strata occur below 
the level of ground water, but generally the materials were found 
clean and unmixed with fine silt or sediments. A natural separation 
or grading of the materials by the river’s action appears to have 
taken place. The coarser and heavier parts occur at the lower 
depths, because the more finely divided matter has been carried in 
suspension by eddies and currents after the agitation has become too 
weak to lift or move the material of larger sizes. This natural 
process has resulted in a good condition of porosity for a given size 
of grains in the strata through which ground water percolates. 

The level of ground water appears to be close to the average river 
level. This ground water appears to underlie the entire area of* 
bottom lands. It is probably continuous with the waters flowing in 
the river channel through the interstices between the grains of the 
sand and gravel. The river is thus the main source of the ground 
waters. The running waters of the main channel keep the bottom 
constantly scoured and open to percolation in the sands and gravels, 
and during the annual flood season the materials under and near the 
river bottom are powerfully shifted and redisposed, thus greatly in¬ 
creasing the absorption of water into the undisturbed beds beneath 
the lands on either side. Wherever there is a current sufficient to 
move coarse materials the fine red silt so characteristic of the Colo¬ 
rado is kept constantly in suspension. It is reasonable to conclude 
that at some time in the past any given place in the flood plain has 
been occupied by the river channel and that in the play of forces 
that constantly bend and crowd the great stream, now one way and 
then another, first the boulders grinding deep below have been left 
at rest, then the gravels above them, then the sands, and last the fine 
silts which have been deposited near the top in comparatively quiet 
water. 

The materials passed through by the wells below the soil consist 
mostly of siliceous sand and hard rock fragments, well smoothed 
and rounded by erosion. The soil is from 3 to 10 feet in depth. 
Alkali in the soil and in the ground water occurs in some parts of the 
area, but not to a serious extent. The conditions in this respect aver¬ 
age about the same as are found in the Yuma, Palo Verde, and Salt 
River valleys. 


112 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


CONSTRUCTION OF TEST WELLS. 

In putting down the test wells a sheet-metal casing was sunk by 
weights and the pressure of hydraulic jacks at the same time that the 
material was removed from inside it by means of a sand bailer. As 
no other type of well-drilling equipment was readily obtainable this 
was the only method tried. It is likely that the so-called rotary 
method of drilling by the use of water under pressure would work 
well to a depth of 100 feet, or until boulders were struck. 

In wells Nos. 2 and 3 the casing was 16 inches in diameter, gal¬ 
vanized and perforated before sinking. The perforations, which 
averaged about 113 to the running foot, were lj-inch slits running 
lengthwise of the casing and opened about one thirty-second of an 
inch. This casing was designed for taking in the water from the 
sands at comparatively shallow depths. On account of the lightness 
of metal necessary to permit such narrow perforations the strain of 
sinking and of outside pressure will not admit of forcing it to great 
depths. 

In well No. 1 an attempt was made to penetrate to a depth of 200 
feet by using 12-inch California “ stovepipe ” casing of much heavier 
weight. On account of limitations in the method, accidents, and 
lack of sufficient funds, a depth of only 134 feet was reached; never¬ 
theless, there is no reasonable doubt that under commercial condi¬ 
tions the desirable water-bearing strata represented by the coarse 
gravel formations that were found at the bottom of this well and 
presumably extend to greater depths can be reached by wells at rea¬ 
sonable cost. 

The experience gained on this work indicates that good irrigating 
streams can be obtained from the sands without penetrating below 
100 feet, but that the yield could be much increased by sinking 
deeper. 

WATER FOR THE MESA GROUND. 

A supply of water for the mesa land lying within and near the 
town site of Parker could probably best be obtained by pumping 
at a central plant at the river and near the railroad. This land lies 
about 75 feet above the river. The soil is lighter and more sandy 
than that of the bottom lands and would be benefited by the silt car¬ 
ried in river water. Several wells have been sunk on this high 
ground in which good water-bearing gravels are struck, but the con¬ 
siderable depth required makes their original cost high and largely in¬ 
creases the practical difficulties and cost of pumping.from them. In 
pumping water from the river the effect of drawdown would be 
eliminated, and the economies of a concentrated plant working on a 
large scale would be considerable. The need of water in the town 


/ 


IRRIGATION IN COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. 113 

of Parker for irrigating lawns, trees, gardens, etc., would seem to 
justify the cost of delivering it for those purposes. The ground 
around the town should be suitable for growing citrus fruits and 
other crops and could be irrigated by pumped water at a cost well 
within the limits considered practicable in other parts of the South¬ 
west. 

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS. 

The following general ideas and observations are offered as a 
result of this examination: 

1. In many parts of the bottom lands it is probable that at small 
expense for embankments and controlling gates enough water for 
one or two good irrigations can be caught from the overflow and 
utilized at the time of the annual Colorado River floods in May and 
June. On numerous areas this overflow occurs as a gently rising 
backwater laden with rich silt and communicating through the rem¬ 
nants of old river channels to lands safelv removed from flood 
violence. The ancient Indian method of raising quick-growing 
crops of corn, squashes, and similar crops by utilizing the moisture 
of the naturally flooded ground, after the manner of the Egyptians, 
has never been tried in any large or adequate way in this district. 
The benefit of such an addition to the supply of irrigation water 
each season would include not only the saving in the expense of 
pumping but also the continual replenishing of fertile elements in 
the soil. From the irrigator’s standpoint such a combination is 
almost ideal as providing a solution of the problem of overabundant 
silts, which is at present serious indeed on projects that obtain all 
their water by gravity from the Colorado, and at the same time pre¬ 
serving the benefits derived from a suitable proportion of the river 
water. 

f 

2. Tracts where the ground water that can easily be obtained is 
of onty medium quality for irrigation may still be reclaimed by the 
pumping method if a part of the year’s service can be supplied by 
the overflow or by water pumped from the numerous sloughs in 
which it stands a part of the time. The sweetening of alkali land 
can also be effected by washing out and silting it with river water. 
The location of wells should be selected after testing to avoid bodies 
of poor water. The testing can be done inexpensively by taking 
samples with drive point and pump. 

3. The roots of some cultivated plants will doubtless extend to the 
ground water on much of this land. The soil is generally loose, and 
after the roots of trees and alfalfa have been established by moisture 
supplied at the surface they will penetrate the 10 or 12 feet necessary 
to reach the ground water. 


114 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


4. If the reclamation of this area is started by pump irrigation, the 
most favorable locations will be chosen first, but as the community 
tills up levees to protect the tracts now exposed to direct and dam¬ 
aging flood water will be built. The system of pumping for the 
greater part of the season will also be appropriate on such lands. 

5. Experience with gravity systems that take all their water from 
the river in this vicinity suggests some material advantages in the 
method of pumping from the ground water; for example, the 
pumped water contains no seeds of Bermuda grass and other noxious 
plants, such as are conveyed by the river from other localities; it 
is fit for domestic and stock consumption, whereas river water is 
always very turbid; it is always at hand when wanted; and ditch 
maintenance and seepage losses are reduced to a minimum. Fur¬ 
thermore, when river water is used the disposition and control of the 
enormous quantities of silt it carries, such as are deposited in the 
canals and ditches of the Palo Verde Valley and in those of the 
Indian Service on this reservation, constitute a very difficult problem. 

6. Preliminary settlement of the district by pumping irrigators 
may reasonably be expected to help and not hinder any subsequent 
movement for large consolidated works, inasmuch as a point of diffi¬ 
culty in many reclamation projects hitherto has been the task of 
building up a large community of water users who are ready and 
able to irrigate and cultivate a considerable area. There is a certain 
flexibility to the individual pumping system which permits a large 
project to grow in a natural way by the assemblage of small units. 
With such a community first established on the ground the way 
is open for a strong association of individuals to further any move¬ 
ment promising general benefits. 

7. The “duty of water,” or number of acre-feet required per acre 
each year, will vary according to the kind of crops cultivated, the 
number of crops per year, and the intelligence of the irrigator. It 
should probably run 4 or 44 acre-feet at the place of consumption. 
It should be remembered that with an individual pump for each 
ranch no allowance need be made for seepage in long lines of main 
canals and laterals. Such seepage in a distributing system would 
probably amount to 25 per cent of the water taken in at the 
headworks. 


IRRIGATION IN COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. 115 


RESULTS OE TESTS. 

WELL LOGS AND NOTES. 


Log of test well No. 1, sec. 36, T. 7 N. t R. 21 W. 

[Begun September 6, 1915; drilling stopped January 30, 1916. Twelve-inch stovepipe casing; perforated 
from 100 to 125 feet depth with 8 by f-inch slits, four on a circumference and 8 inches apart.] 


\ 

Thickness. 

Depth. 

Loam and sand. 

Feet. 

12 

Feet. 

12 

Sand (water surface). 

4 

16 

Gravel... 

4 

20 

Gravelly sand. 

3 

23 

Coarse sand and gravel. 

5 

28 

Clay.“. 

.5 

28.5 

Coarse sand and gravel. 

14.5 

43 

Coarse and fine sand. 

17 

60 

Coarse sand and clav streaks. 

15 

75 

Coarse and fine sand. 

17 

92 

Gravel and cobble.;. 

4 

96 

Coarse sand. 

5 

101 

Gravel and large cobble. 

23 

124 

Gravel and cobble. 

10 

134 



This well was begun with a 16-inch galvanized riveted casing and sunk 
about 75 feet. The wet sand settled around the casing a good deal, owing to 
the bailing of sand being carried below the end of the casing. A downward 
slip extending from the surface of the ground around the well often occurred 
suddenly. In one of these slips the 16-inch casing was crippled at about the 
water surface. A string of 12-inch double California stovepipe casing was then 
introduced inside the 16-inch casing, and the well was finished with it. While 
the 12-inch casing was being sunk the ground slipped repeatedly as before 
and the original 16-inch casing settled with the ground to an unknown depth. 

The testing equipment was set up at this well, but it was found that the 
sand had come into the well from the bottom and through the perforations 
until they had been entirely covered, so that the pump would merely suck out 
the water standing in the well to the bottom of the suction pipe, when the 
suction would be broken. However, the very favorable strata for pumping 
offer a practical guaranty of a free delivery of water under working conditions, 
and the physical requirements for constructing a properly cased well hole 
are certainly no different from those at the other two test wells and no more 
onerous than those at many other localities in the Southwest where wells of 
this kind are in use. 

The water at well No. 1 was not of a satisfactory quality for irrigation 
unless used in combination with some other water, but at drive-point test G, 
less than half a mile away, is water that gave a favorable test. 


Log of test well No. 2, sec, 16, T. 6 N., R. 21 W. 

rPut down in November, 1915. 16-inch riveted and soldered casing, perforated full 
length before sinking with 3*3 by 11 inch silts, about 113 to the foot.] 



Thickness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

10 

Feet. 

10 


2 

12 


2 

14 


26 

40 

band, meaium-size ..••••• • 

14 

54 


6 

60 


18 

78 

band all Cl gldvtJl, &uiue li ay . 

7 

85 


13 

98 


49417—23-9 


























































116 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


A continuous pumping test of 48 hours was run on this well February 9-11, 
1916. The record was kept by H. E. Buckingham, representing the State, and 
C. A. Engle, engineer, of the United States Indian Service. A No. 5 special 
Krogh horizontal centrifugal pump with 21-inch runner installed 2.87 feet 
above the normal water level was driven from a pulley attached to a Yuba 
tractor engine, burning distillate, which was run up close to the pit for the 
purpose and connected by a sloping belt direct to the pump pulley. The pump 
was set in a pit close to the surface of ground water. The pipe connections 
were of 10-inch riveted sheet-iron pipe, dipped in hot asphalt. The suction 
end was 30 feet long, and the discharge pipe, which contained an increasing 
5 by 7 inch check valve, was about 22 feet long, with a long-radius elbow. The 
pump connections were each 5-inch and 3-foot reducer sections connected to 
the 10-inch pipe. The water was pumped into a weir box in which the dis¬ 
charge was measured. A few of the measurements are given below. 


Time. 

Draw¬ 

down. 

(feet). 

Disci 

Gallons 

per 

minute. 

large. 

Second- 

feet. 

Feb. 9, 2.30p.ru. 

24.3 

858 

1.91 

3. OOp.m. 

24.3 

858 

1.91 

Feb. 10,12.30 a. m. 

22.9 

825 

1.84 

12.30 p. m. 

24.1 

825 

1.84 

Feb. 11,12.30 a. m. 

24.9 

825 

1.84 

12.30 p. m. 

24.3 

825 

1.84 

2.30 p. m. 

24.9 

825 

1.84 


The drawdown or depth to which the surface of water in the well while 
being pumped recedes below the general surface of the ground water can be 
decreased by increasing the number and area of perforations. The well had 
filled with sand in the bottom to some extent at the time of the test, so that only 
about 57 feet of perforated casing was exposed for the entrance of water. 

Log of test well No. 8, sec. 16, T. 7 N., R. 21 W. 

[Put down in December, 1915. 16-inch galvanized riveted casing, perforated full length 
before sinking with ^ by 1| inch slits, 113 to the foot. Some larger perforations 
cut after the well was done.] 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Soil and sand. 

Fed. 

10 

19 

4 

39 

Fed. 

10 

29 

33 

72 

Sand, clean and rather fine (water surface). 

Clav!.... 

Sand, medium, growing coarser toward bottom, a few small stones. 


About 6 feet of cobbles were put into the well after drilling to hold sand that 
was coming up in the bottom. Sand afterward rose and reduced the depth to 
57 feet. 

It was found after the pumping test had been begun that the perforations 
had been made too small, and this condition, together with the shallow depth, 
was unfavorable to a large yield of water. Nevertheless when pumped for 
eight hours each day for a week the well steadily delivered nearly 30 miner’s 
inches, or 337 gallons a minute. The pump was then disconnected and about 
75 additional perforations in the casing were made by lowering an instrument 
into the well. This produced an increase of about 30 per cent in the amount 
of water pumped, bringing up the discharge to about 40 miner’s inches, or 449 





























IRRIGATION IN COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. 117 


gallons a minute. There is no reason to doubt that an increase in the depth 
and a correction of the defect in perforations would produce as large a yield 
as that given by well No. 2. 

The final test was run for 24 hours continuously on April 9 and 10, 1916. 
The arrangement of apparatus was similar to that used in the test of well 
No. 2, the same equipment having been moved to this well. The record was 
kept by H. E. Buckingham for the State, and F. It. Macpherson, of the United 
States Indian Service. . The center of the pump was 3.33 feet above normal 
water surface. A few of the measurements are given below. 





Draw¬ 

down 

(feet). 

Discharge. 


Time. 


Gallons 

per 

minute. 

Second- 

feet. 

Apr. 9, 3.00 p. m. 

24.25 

473 

1.05 

4.00 p. m. 

24.82 

441 

.98 

12.00 m.,. 

25.38 

441 

.98 

Apr. 10, 12.00 m. 

25.38 

441 

.98 

3.00 p. m. 

25.38 

441 

.98 



DRIVE-POINT TESTS. 


The localities at which drive-point tests were made and samples of water 
were taken are indicated on Figure 16. The drive-point method was simply 
the driving of a pipe with a pointed end, upon which was placed a section 
of strainer to keep out sand. After this pipe had been driven far enough into 
the ground to bring the strainer below the level of ground water a pitcher 
pump was attached to the upper end of the pipe, and the water was pumped 
up for obtaining samples. A rod was also let down into the pipe for measuring 
the depth at which the surface of the underground water lay. The depths 
to water for all the drive-point holes and also at the large wells are given 
below. The letters correspond to those used on the map. 


Ft. in. 

A 11 8 

Ft. in. 

G_ 11 4 

Ft 7 

H 10 

C (higher ground) _ . 28 6 

n . 18 

J (well No. 1) 12 

J'__ _ _ _ 10 6 

E_ _ _ 11 

F - 11 6 

K (well No. 3) 10 1 

Well No. 2 _ - 14 4 


Samples of water from holes A to K, inclusive, were examined by the Uni¬ 
versity of Arizona College of Agriculture and Agricultural Experiment Station. 
The following table shows the total solids and the classification of the different 

waters: 

Total solids and classification of icatei's. 


Hole. 

Total 
solids 
(parts per 
million). 

Classification for 
irrigation .o 

Hole. 

Total 
solids 
(parts per 
million). 

Classification for 
irrigation .a 

A 

b 1 142 

Fit. 

G. 

462 

' Fit. 


1 956 

Fit. 

H. 

c 936 

Unfit. 

P 

5 000 

Unfit. 

J. 

2,814 

Unfit unless in 

D. 

P 

4,874 

310 

Unfit. 

Fit. 

J'. 

ft 796 

combination. 

Fit. 


ft 750 

Fit. 


1,152 

Fit. 


a Classification by A. L. Harris. .... 

b Alkalinity as Na 2 C0 3 (black alkali), 140 parts per million, 
c Alkalinity as Na 2 C0 3 (black alkali), 610 parts per million. 





























































118 


LOWER GILA REGION - , ARIZONA. 


TRAVEL IN THE REGION. 

TYPES OF ROADS. 

The roads in this region are of several types, which are defined 
below. 

Mountain roads run through mountains of various types and 
consequently have somewhat varying characteristics. The roadbed 
is constructed on rock, residual soil, thin alluvium, or caliche. In 
consequence it is seldom muddy, but it may be rough. These roads 
usually have steep grades, especially in and out of the gulches, the 
crossing of which presents the principal difficulty in traveling roads 
of this type. 

Plains roads, which form the greater part of the roads in this 
region, pass through alluvium-filled valleys or plains. Such roads 
the traveler comes to know as the typical desert roads. Generally 
the alluvium makes good, well-drained roads, on which the greatest 
obstacles to travel are the washes. The difficulties here are heavy 
sand and very steep descent into and ascent out of the washes. As 
every rain changes the character of the washes permanent improve¬ 
ments are impossible. Under heavy traffic plains roads may become 
“ chucky,” but usually not sufficiently so to cause serious trouble. 
The adobe flats encountered here and there in desert valleys present 
more difficulties. They are dusty and chucky in dry weather and 
muddy in wet weather. Where there is much or long-continued 
traffic on a plains road, ruts may be worn so deep that u high centers ” 
will be a serious menace to low-hung automobiles. Plate XIV, A, 
shows an example of a good plains road. 

River-bottom roads are built along the courses of rivers, prin¬ 
cipally on the fine-grained sandy clay and loam of the flood plains. 
Well-graded roads built on such material may be excellent in dry 
weather, provided there is little traffic. The material is so soft, 
however, that well-traveled roads in river bottoms soon become very 
badly cut up. They are dusty in dry weather and may become so 
muddy in wet weather as to make passage over them very difficult. 
Parts of river-bottom roads may run on the gravel benches along 
the river. Here the alluvium is coarser and more compact than it 
is in the flood plain, and the roads are similar in character to plains 
roads. It is common to find two parallel roads along a river valley, 
one following the flood plain, the other the gravel benches. Wliich 
road is the better will depend on the season, the weather, and the 
amount and character of the traffic. 

Malpais roads, which pass over mesas capped by lava or “ mal- 
pais,” are in general comparatively good. Steep grades, bad washes, 
and heavy sand are rare. Depressions in the surface of the lava 


TRAVEL IN THE REGION. 


119 


may become filled with sand, making rather heavy going. Such 
stretches are usually short and seldom present serious difficulties. 
Roads of this type may be rough and are hard on tires. 

BOAD DIFFICULTIES AND SUGGESTIONS FOB SUBMOUNTING 

THEM. 

The roads in southwestern Arizona, with few exceptions, have 
been but little improved. Here and there may be found stretches 
of excellent graded road built and maintained by the county or 
State, which reflect credit on the engineering skill of those in charge. 
However, the mileage of good roads compared to the total mileage 
of roads in this part of Arizona is very small. The traveler who 
uses the roads in this region now and for a number of years to come 
must expect to encounter long stretches on which little or nothing 
in the way of improvement has been done. Under such conditions 
it is inevitable that certain portions of the roads will at times get 
into such poor shape as to make travel over them rather difficult. 
The well-traveled roads rarely become dangerous or even really 
difficult for an automobile in good condition, particularly if the 
traveler, knowing the impediments he is likely to encounter, goes 
prepared to cope with them. The following is a brief description 
of the major road difficulties, together with some suggestions for 
overcoming them. As most of the traveling in this region is done 
by automobile, the needs of the motorist have been kept particularly 
in mind. However, much of what follows applies equally to travel 
by wagon. 

On many of these roads garages at which even simple repairs 
can be made are separated by 50 or 100 miles, or even greater dis¬ 
tances, and consequently the car should be put in as good shape as 
possible before starting. Enough tools and spare parts should be 
taken, so that minor repairs can be made on the road. On leaving 
a supply station there should be ample gasoline in the car to last 
until the next point at which it can be obtained is reached. Fewer 
miles per gallon must be expected on unimproved roads than on 
boulevards, and the gasoline obtainable will not always be of the 
best quality. Gasoline should be carried in at least one container 
in addition to the tank in the car in order to have a reserve in case 
of a leak in the gas line. 

A few tools for overcoming road difficulties should be carried. 
A shovel and ax and perhaps also a pick are likely to prove valuable 
possessions at times. A rope and tackle or one of the patented 
devices of this nature might be useful to pull the car out of a hole 
or up a steep bank. A rope and bucket are often necessary to obtain 
water from wells. Enough water should be taken to fill the radi- 


120 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


ator at least once in case of a leak and leave some for drinking. 
Human consumption is very great in the desert, 2 gallons per man 
per day being a minimum requirement. It is advisable to carry a 
little food and bedding, even if main reliance is to be placed on the 
eating houses and hotels along the way. There is always the possi¬ 
bility of not arriving at the hotel on schedule time. Even with a 
car in good condition at the start a breakdown may occur on the 
desert or in the mountains far from any habitation. Without pro¬ 
visions such an occurrence might prove a very serious matter. With 
them it becomes merely a vexatious delay. At some places food 
can be purchased, but the traveler must provide his own bedding. 

One of the very common impediments to travel in this region is 
that presented by the dry washes. These are stream courses that 
are entirely dry except for short periods immediately after excep¬ 
tionally heavy rains. During times of flood it is impracticable to 
attempt to ford the streams, and travelers must wait at some town 
until the flow ceases. Such delays are rare and usually short, even 
during the rainy season. 

A dry wash presents difficulties of two kinds. Its banks may be 
steep, making descent into and ascent out of the wash abrupt. On a 
road over which there has been little recent travel it is a wise pre¬ 
caution to look at the wash and its banks before attempting to cross. 
Time can often be saved by cutting down the banks to a better grade 
or otherwise improving the road across the wash. It is much easier 
to cross a wash with the aid of the momentum of the car than it is 
to get out of the wash after the car has got stuck and been compelled 
to stop. 

A rather frequent difficulty with a Ford automobile in ascending 
the bank of a wash or other steep pitch is that the gasoline fails 
to feed from the tank into the carburetor. This difficulty is of 
course especially liable to occur when the gasoline supply is getting 
low. Slopes steep enough for trouble of this sort are usually short, 
and if the car is moving at a fair rate of speed its momentum may 
be sufficient to carry it over the slope. If the car is stopped at the 
foot of such a pitch, however, it may be unable to get up under its 
own power. At such times the motorist will be very thankful if he 
has had sufficient forethought to bring a shovel to cut down the ob¬ 
struction to a practicable grade and a rope and tackle or similar 
device to aid the engine. 

Various devices for pumping air into the gasoline tank and thus 
getting a sufficient increase in pressure to force the gasoline through 
the carburetor have been tried. So far as known to the writer none 
of these devices have been perfected for use on the Ford car. One 
scheme, used on the Geological Survey car in the work north of Gila 


TRAVEL IN THE REGION. 


121 


River, is to fit the screw cap of the gasoline tank with an ordinary 
tire valve and pump air in with the tire pump. This helps in an 
emergency but has three disadvantages. The cushion must be re¬ 
moved during the operation, making it slightly difficult to drive. 
The screw cap is not perfectly airtight, so it is difficult to get suffi¬ 
cient pressure to do much good, especially in the awkward position 
in which the pump must be used. This cap can not be left on the tank 
permanently, as the valve easily clogs with dirt. When this hap¬ 
pens, no air enters the tank from above, and the gasoline, of course, 
does not flow even when the tank is full. 

Trouble may also be encountered in crossing the sandy or gravelly 
bed of a wash. Here, likewise, it is very important to maintain the 
momentum of the car, if possible. It is not advisable to rush across 
a wash at high speed, for such a proceeding is always dangerous and 
might lead to disaster, but the car should be kept moving all the time 
until the wash is passed. If the traveler has any doubts as to the 
condition of the road he should examine it before he attempts to 
cross. If the road is not in good shape he will usually save time and 
labor by putting it in good shape, so far as possible. On the main 
traveled routes the banks of washes are usually cut or worn down, 
and the roads across them are well packed, but even on such routes it 
is well not to assume that everything is all right but to make sure 
of it. 

' In crossing the bed of a wash or following a road along such a 
bed, or indeed in going over any stretch of soft roadbed, it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary to keep in the tracks made by the wheels of the 
vehicles that have preceded. A car may run easily in a track packed 
down by previous automobiles and yet be entirely unable to make 
any progress in the soft, unpacked sand or gravel on either side. 
One danger to be constantly guarded against is that of getting off 
the road in the wake of some car that has started off a few feet 
and then backed into the road again. One of the Geological Sur¬ 
vey parties spent 24 hours in one gravel-bottomed wash in La Posa 
Plain near Quartzsite because the driver followed such a set of 
tracks and got off the roadway. The car was finally backed out the 
way it had come, and the wash was not crossed at that place. 

If the roadway in a wash or elsewhere is too soft to afford trac¬ 
tion, it can be corduroyed. If planks are available, they are excel¬ 
lent to lay in the tracks for the wheels to run on, but they are 
usually not to be had. Creosote and similar bushes grow almost 
everywhere in this region, however, and if cut and laid crosswise of 
the tracks for a considerable distance in front of the car they will 
afford traction for the wheels. It is usually not necessary to lay 
them the whole distance across the soft ground, unless this is very 
short, as the car ordinarily gathers momentum enough to carry it 


122 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


some distance past the end of the corduroy. It may be necessary, 
especially in long sandy stretches, to let the air out of the tires until 
a pressure of only about 25 pounds or so remains in them. This 
provides a greater bearing surface and is of very great assistance. 
It is, of course, very injurious to the tires, causing rim cutting, and 
should not be resorted to unless unavoidable. 

The road difficulties met with in sandy places, such as parts of 
the flood plains of rivers and sand dunes, are similar to those met in 
the bottoms of sandy washes. 

The difficulties encountered with silt in river flood plains and on 
adobe flats in desert valleys are of two kinds. In wet weather such 
places are liable to be “ seas of mud ” and passage over them is diffi¬ 
cult, if possible at all. Local advice should be sought and carefully 
considered before making the attempt. In dry weather, especially 
if there has been much travel, roads over them are sure to have deep 
ruts and be “chucky,” in some places exceedingly so, but are not 
likely to present any difficulties to the traveler who does not try to 
go over them too fast and incautiously. “ High centers ” should be 
watched for and avoided if possible. Usually there is a choice of 
a number of tracks across such places, crossing and recrossing one 
another but all leading in the same general direction. Care should 
be taken not to follow a set of these tracks that leads to some place 
which the traveler has no desire to visit. If the surface is hard and 
the car is lightly laden, it may be well to make a new track, for by 
doing so much shaking up from the chuck holes in the old tracks 
may be avoided. This should be attempted with caution, however, 
because the surface may not be as hard as it looks, and on leaving 
the beaten track the car may get stuck, necessitating more or less 
labor to get it back into the road. 

The difficulties encountered on mountain roads are familiar to 
most experienced motorists. No general advice can be given except 
to take no needless chances and avoid excessive speed. The car 
should be kept entirely under control at all times. These roads are 
in some places so narrow that two cars can not pass. Before start¬ 
ing on such a very narrow stretch, the traveler should look and 
listen to be sure that no car is on it coming the other way. A 
meeting where the road is so narrow that it is impossible either 
to turn around or to pass the other car would cause delay, if nothing 
more. 

In conclusion, it may be said that the roads in southwestern 
Arizona, though in general unimproved and rough, are for the most 
part passable and offer no particular danger or great difficulty to the 
experienced driver who takes proper precautions and sufficient 
supplies. The reckless, ignorant, or careless driver is likely to find 
trouble here as elsewhere. 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 123 

ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 

GENERAL OUTLINE. 

The main route of travel through the region covered by this guide 
is the road between Phoenix and Yuma, about 200 miles long. The 
route between these places by way of Deep Wells is 222 miles long, 
but this is now seldom used and is not recommended. At Yuma there 
are connections with main roads leading to Los Angeles and San 
Diego. 72 The distance to Los Angeles from Yuma is 320 miles by 
way of San Diego and 294 miles by way of Mecca. The San Diego 
route is perhaps the more favored. According to recent maps re¬ 
ceived from the office of the State highway engineer it is planned to 
construct a permanent graded highway between Phoenix and Yuma, 
crossing Gila River near the Enterprise ranch, passing through 
Gila Bend, and following the railroad from that town to Yuma. 

Next in importance are the routes between Phoenix and Parker, 
162 or 178 miles long, according to the exact course taken. At Parker 
these routes connect with roads leading to San Bernardino and Los 
Angeles. 73 The distance to Los Angeles from Parker is 132 or 170 
miles, according to the route; the longer route is the better. 

Roads branching from the Phoenix-Parker routes lead by way of 
Quartzsite to Ehrenberg Ferry, on the Colorado, and there connect 
with a main road leading through Blythe and Coachella Valley to 
Los Angeles. 72 The distance from Phoenix to Ehrenberg is 163 to 
' 193 miles by different routes. The distance from Ehrenberg to Los 
Angeles is 248 miles. 

There are various routes and combinations of routes between 
Phoenix and Parker. All of them are used by travelers from and 
to points in California, and each is referred to locally as the 
“Parker cut-off.” From Phoenix the tourist may follow in a gen¬ 
eral way the line of the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad 
through Wickenburg, Wenden, Salome, and Bouse to Parker, or 
he may leave the railroad at Wenden and go to Parker by way of 
Cunningham Pass and Butler Well. Other routes lead through 
Buckeye Valley, past Winters Well, the Palo Verde mine, and Tol- 
laday’s Well, through Harrisburg Valley, and thence either through 
Wenden and Cunningham Pass to Parker or through Salome and 
Bouse along the railroad to Parker. The choice depends on indi¬ 
vidual preference and on the condition of the roads at different 
times. The route by way of Wickenburg and Bouse is more than 15 
miles longer than that by way of Buckeye, Winters Well, and Bouse, 

w Brown, J. S., The Salton Sea region, Calif.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Taper 
497, 1923. 

7S Thompson, D. G., Routes to desert watering places in the Mohave Desert region, 
Calif.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 490-B, 1921. 




124 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


but in the early part of 1918, after a prolonged drought, many 
travelers were going by way of Wickenburg in order to avoid badly 
cut-up stretches of road near Winters Well and across the Har- 
quahala Plains. The Wickenburg road was not traveled by the 
writer during the present investigation. After periods of heavy 
rains the road by way of Wenden and Cunningham Pass is reported 
to be better than that along the railroad through Bouse, but this 
route is not good immediately after a rain storm. Some prefer the 
road through Cunningham Pass at all seasons. 

Some travelers between Arizona and California points use the 
ferry over Colorado River at Ehrenberg instead of that at Parker. 
They follow one of the Parker cut-off routes in Arizona either to 
Vicksburg or to Bouse, which are stations on the Santa Fe, Prescott 
& Phoenix Railroad, and thence go to Quartzsite and Ehrenberg. 
The road between Bouse and Quartzsite is 6 miles shorter than the 
road between Vicksburg and Quartzsite. For travelers between 
Ehrenberg and places east of Vicksburg the route by way of Bouse 
from Quartzsite is 14 miles longer than that direct to Vicksburg, but 
the road is much better, especially in wet weather. The ferry at 
Ehrenberg is usually not operated from the later part of May to 
the early part of August because of high water. 

There are three main routes between Phoenix and Los Angeles. 
The portions of these routes in Arizona are those that lead from 
Phoenix to Yuma, Parker, and Ehrenberg. The choice depends 
largely on individual preference, the weather, and the condition of 
the roads at the time of the trip. The Yuma road is somewhat the 
most popular. Watering places are numerous on it, and the road is 
easy to follow in most places. The bridge at Yuma obviates the 
necessity for ferrying across Colorado River. In 1918 there was a 
bridge over Gila River at Antelope Hill, but it is reported that this 
bridge has since been washed out and the river must be forded here. 
(See p. 230.) Many travelers now go by way of Buckeye and Gila 
Bend instead of by this route. The road along Gila River is usually' 
in bad shape for considerable stretches, and the scenery here is mostly 
dreary and rather uninteresting. In California about 30 miles of 
very sandy road is encountered in the sand-hill area east of the 
Imperial Valley. The Parker cut-off routes are used almost as much 
as that by way of Yuma. The scenery is, on the whole, rather more 
attractive, and the distance is but little longer. It is slightly more 
difficult to keep on the correct road, and reliable watering places 
are somewhat farther apart. At times some stretches of the roads 
are in bad shape, but as there are several alternative routes the 
worst of these can usually be avoided. Local advice should be sought 
as to which route to follow. The route by way of Ehrenberg is 


ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 


125 


roughly 100 miles shorter than either of the others, but it is not 
nearly as much used, because of the comparatively long stretches 
along which no supplies, or very few, can be obtained. In California 
no supplies of any kind can be procured along the 95-mile stretch 
west of Blythe. Some portions of the road are rough, and others are 
very sandy. There is a variety of attractive desert scenery along the 
Arizona portion of the route. 

An important route is the road between Quartzsite and Dome on 
the main Phoenix-Yuma route. The Harquahala road between 
Palomas and Salome is another north-south route, but is now seldom 
used. 

From Buckeye, on the Phoenix-Yuma route, a road leads south to 
Gila Bend, and thence to- Ajo, the Papago country, and Mexico. 75 
From Gila Bend there is also a road leading westward to Yuma, 
following in general the course of the Southern Pacific Railroad. 
From Sentinel, on this road,, there is a road across Gila River to 
Agua Caliente, on the main Phoenix-Yuma route. 

PLAN OF LOGS AND DESCRIPTIONS. 

In the following pages are given, first, road logs that are intended 
to furnish accurate information about distances and principal points 
and are made brief enough to be convenient for the traveler whose 
time is short, yet sufficiently detailed, it is believed, to enable him 
without other guide to reach his destination safely. Logs of prin¬ 
cipal roads are given in both directions. Distances are stated in 
miles and tenths as measured by the Geological Survey party in 
traveling the road. All the signs mentioned in the logs are believed 
to be reliable. As the condition of many of the roads may have 
changed since the material for this book was collected, the traveler 
should, if possible, obtain local information as to a road before 
starting on a trip. Some information obtained recently by corre¬ 
spondence is given on pages 229-230. 

The logs are followed by more detailed descriptions of many of 
the routes and special features of the region. 

76 Bryan, Kirk, Routes to desert watering places in the Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. 
Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 490—D, pp. 389-391, 1922. 



126 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


ROAD DOGS. 

PHOENIX-YUMA ROUTE. 

PHOENIX TO YUMA BY MAIN ROAD (199 MILES). 

[See pp. 130-132 for log in opposite direction.] 

0.0 Phoenix. Arizona Eastern Railroad station. Go north on Central Avenue to 
Washington Street. Turn west. Go past courthouse (0.4 mile) and continue 
west. 

1.5 Capitol Building. Turn south on Seventeenth Avenue. 

1.6 Jefferson Street. Turn west on Jefferson Street. Pavement ends here; good 

dirt road for 14 miles to Agua Fria River. 

1.9 Nineteenth Avenue. Turn south on Nineteenth Avenue. Cross, first, the 
Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway, then the Arizona Eastern Railroad. 
2.4 Buckeye road. Turn west on Buckeye road. Continue west. 

L3.8 Cashion. Water and supplies. Water is piped from Cashion ranch and is 
warm and somewhat mineralized. Continue west. 

L5.4 Abrupt turn to right and then to left on to concrete roadway across part of Agua. 
Fria River. Continue west at end of concrete roadway, fording stream 
(usually easy to ford). 

16.2 Coldwater. Water and supplies. Water from well here is cold and good.. 

Continue west. Road somewhat rough. 

22.2 Turn south (left) at end of fenced land on good plains road, avoiding road straight 

ahead (west). 

22. 4 Turn west (right). 

22. 9 Fork. Right-hand road is plains road to Buckeye, avoiding Liberty. Left- 
hand road is graded dirt road leading to Buckeye by way of Liberty. Take 
left-hand road. 

25. 0 Cross Arizona Eastern Railroad and continue south. 

25.1 Cross Buckeye Canal and continue south. 

26. 6 Turn due west (right). 

28. 3 Liberty. Water and supplies. Continue west. 

33. 0 Buckeye Canal. Road that forked at mile 22.9 comes in from northeast, across 
the canal. Turn due south (left). 

33. 6 Turn due west (right). 

34. 2 Buckeye. Water, supplies, lodging, and auto repairs. Continue west. 

34. 5 Crossroads. Road south (left) leads across Gila River to Gila Bend, about 36 
miles distant. Geological Survey sign. For Palo Verde, Yuma, and Parker 
continue straight ahead (west). 

36. 5 Turn south (left). 

37. 5 Turn west (right). 

39. 5 Turn south (left). 

40. 0 Turn west (right). 

41. 0 Crossroads at Palo Verde. Water and supplies. Continue straight ahead 

(west). 

43. 7 Ford Hassayampa River. Usually very little water in river. 

43. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road west leads to Bouse, Wenden, Parker, 
and Ehrenberg. (See pp. 133-139.) It is an alternate route to Los Angeles. 
For Yuma turn south (left) along base of lava cliff. Go south about 2 miles, 
then bend to right and go west around lava cliff. Road poor around cliff. 
Continue west. 


ROAD LOGS. 


127 


47. 5 Arlington. Store. Water and supplies. Take enough water to last until 
Agua Caliente is reached, as watering places in mountains are unreliable. 
Continue west nearly a mile, then bend south. Alternate road from Arlington 
store goes south 1 mile, then west 1 mile. A road back of Arlington store 
leads northwest to Winters Wells. 

49. 3 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Alternate road from Arlington comes in 
on east. Road south goes to Enterprise ranch and leads to old road across 
Gila Bend Mountains. (See p. 129.) Enterprise ranch is about 15 miles 
from Arlington. Turn west (right) for new road across Gila Bend Mountains. 
Continue west up bluff past a house (mile 49.9). After climbing bluff, 
road is fairly good. 

54. 8 Fork in mesquite thicket of Centennial Wash. Geological Survey sign. Road 
northwest (right) connects with abandoned Harquahala freight road, now 
used only to reach some of the wells of the Flower Pot Cattle Co. Continue 
straight ahead. 

62.1 Surprise Well. Good water when windmill is pumping. 

64. 8 Dixie mine. Good water in well on north side of road when mine is being 
worked and well is attended to. 

67.6 Fork. Faint road straight ahead goes to Clantons Well and beyond. (Seep. 151.) 
It is used only by cattlemen. Turn south (left). Continue south and south¬ 
west over good, winding mountain road. 

71.0 Road makes steep descent and then crosses Fourth-of-Jilly Wash. Water 
can be obtained by digging a foot or two in sand in this wash, 200 to 
300 yards downstream from road, except after long dry season. 

72. 2 Willow Tanks. Geological Survey sign. Two natural tanks, 50 yards up¬ 
stream from road, also one in a small branch gully that joins main wash 
about 200 yards downstream from road. Wooden platform on north bank of 
main wash short distance downstream from point where gully containing one 
tank enters the wash. Tanks generally contain water, except after long 
dry season. Water is good if clean but usually fit for stock or automobile 
only. Continue west. 

75.8 Yellow Medicine Tank. Geological Survey sign. Small rock tank 75 
yards south of sign in gully. Water good if clean but usually fit for stock or 
automobile only. Dries up in long dry seasons. Yellow Medicine Well is 
on east side of Yellow Medicine Wash, about a mile south of the tank. It 
contains permanent water, but it is poorly protected and the water usually 
becomes contaminated. From sign near Yellow Medicine Tank continue 
west over good graded State road with steep grades and many turns. 

78. 7 Cross big wash where graded road ends. 

78. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Branch road to left is old road now open only 
about half a mile to wash near State Well. This well contains permanent 
water but is unprotected from contamination, and there are no facilities for 
getting water. Rope and bucket required. 

97. 3 Geological Survey sign. Branch road on right comes from homestead of G. T. 
Morris. This is 0.7 mile from the fork. There are two wells here, but 
neither is used, and the water is reported to be undrinkable. Mr. Morris 
keeps a supply of somewhat salty but drinkable water at his house. 

97. 7 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on east (left) is old road from Arling¬ 
ton. (Seepp. 129-130.) Continue southwest, soon turning nearly due west. 

:98. 0 Agua Caliente. A road leads south to Sentinel. Agiia Caliente has hot 
springs, water, supplies, hotel, and garage with gasoline, and a few other 
supplies. Continue westward through Agua Caliente. 


128 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. ^ 

99,4 Fork, Geological Survey sign. Avoid left-hand road (straight ahead), which 
is old road to Palomas. Turn northwest (right). Continue northwest about 
3 miles, then turn southwest, avoiding faint roads forking off on right. One 
of these roads leads to Frank Baragan’s well, 1^ miles north of the main 
road. (See PI. III.) This well has windmill with windlass and buckets 
and good water. 

110. 8 Junction with north-south road. Geological Survey sign. Road coming in 
on north (left) comes from Harquahala and Salome. (See pp. 150-151.) 
Turn south. 

112.6 Geological Survey sign. Old road from Agua Caliente comes in on left. 

113.4 Palomas. Water, supplies, meals, gasoline, post office, and camp ground. 

Road south leads to^ztec (7 miles), a station on the Southern Pacific. Turn 
southwest (right) on outskirts of village. 

117.4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road north (right) is old read to Yuma by 

way of Deep Well and Castle Dome; now no water or habitation for 55.5 
miles from this fork. This old road joins the road from Quartzsite to Dome 
at Geological Survey sign at mile 39.4 going south. (See p. 146.) To con¬ 
tinue on main road to Norton and Yuma turn south (left), then southwest 
along the flood plain of Gila River. The particular road used varies from 
time to time and with the seasons. Follow most used tracks or get local 
advice. Road full of holes in dry weather and muddy in wet weather. 
Avoid branch roads leading off to ranches along the route. Water obtain¬ 
able at several of these ranches in emergency. At mile 125.8 is a reverse 
fork leading to Farra’s ranch, three-fourths of a mile south of the main road, 
where there is a well that yields fairly good water. Continue to Norton. 

135. 2 Norton. Old buildings, post office. Somewhat salty but drinkable water. 

No other supplies. Road leading due north goes to Deep Wells and beyond. 
It is little traveled. Road south leads to Mohawk (7 miles), a station on the 
Southern Pacific Railroad. Continue west. 

136. 3 Hicks ranch. Well with salty but drinkable water. Supply small, so that 

owner prefers that it be used only in emergency. Continue west and south¬ 
west. 

142. 0 Deserted schoolhouse. 

146. 3 Ranch building with windmill. Continue west about 3 miles. Turn south. 
Road goes over silty flood plain, full of holes in dry weather, very muddy 
in wet weather. Last 2 miles before reaching bridge is graded road but in 
poor condition. 

152. 5 Cross Gila River on Antelope Bridge (concrete). Water is usually obtainable 
in river bed, but it is not of good quality for human use. After crossing 
bridge turn to right and run southwest, avoiding branch roads to ranches. 
Road has chuck holes and is very dusty in dry weather and muddy in wet 
weather. 

161. 4 Wellton. Water, gasoline, supplies, post office, hotel, and railroad station. 

A road leads south to Tinajas Altas. 76 Turn to right and go west. This road 
is undergoing improvement west of the town, and new roads to homesteads 
are being made. It lies in a flood plain of Gila River, between the river on 
the north and the Southern Pacific Railroad on the south, so it is impossible 
to get far off it. First part of road to Dome has chuck holes and dust in dry 
weather and mud in wet weather. For 8 miles east of Dome there is good 
graded road/ 


See Water-Supply Paper 490-D. 



ROAD LOGS. 129 

178.9 Dome. Water, gasoline, supplies, post office, and railroad station. Con¬ 

tinue west on good graded road. 

185. 6 Blaisdell, railroad station. Road south to Fortuna mine. Continue west on 
poor sandy river-bottom road to outskirts of Yuma, then 1 mile on asphalt 
pavement to Yuma depot (mile 198.9). 

198.9 Yuma. Depot. 

PHOENIX TO YUMA BY OLD ROAD ACROSS GILA BEND MOUNTAINS (202 MILES.) 

[See pp. 132-133 for log in opposite direction.] 

On the route from Phoenix to Yuma there are two optional roads between Arlington 
and Agua Caliente through the Gila Bend Mountains, known as the old and new 
roads. The new road, which lies north of the old, is about 3 miles longer. Water 
is obtainable on it at more frequent intervals, and it is the one usually traveled by 
automobilists. For these reasons it is the safer of the two. The old road, being 
shorter and having less steep grades, is sometimes used by parties traveling with 
stock. It has more sand than the new one but fewer curves. (See PI. XIV, A.) 

For road from Phoenix to Arlington, see log, pp. 126-127. 

47. 5 Arlington store. Water and supplies. Continue west nearly a mile, then 
bend south. Alternate road from Arlington store goes south 1 mile, then 
west 1 mile. 

49. 3 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road from east (left) is alternate road 
from Arlington. Road west (right) is new road across Gila Bend Mountains. 
(See p. 127.) To follow the old road across the mountains or to go to En¬ 
terprise ranch continue straight ahead (south). 

51. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road straight ahead goes to Enterprise ranch, 
about 10 miles from this point. For Agua Caliente and Yuma turn west 
(right) and go over fair plains road, crossing Arlington Canal and leaving irri¬ 
gated district at mile 52.4. 

58. 0 Fork. Wooden sign. Road to left leads to Webb mine, about a mile south. 

Continue straight ahead past faint road to right, leading to Van Hagen wind¬ 
mill, 0.3 mile north of main road. This well is unreliable for water supply. 

59. 4 Geological Survey sign. Webb Well is 150 yards to the right of road. Good 

water. Continue over good mountain road. 

63. 8 Fork. Road on left goes to Woolsey Tank (PI. XVII, B ), 100 yards away, and 
to camp ground. Water for stock in natural tank, for men in shaft of 
Perhaps mine. 

63.9 Geological Survey sign. Another road on left leading to Woolsey Tank. Con¬ 
tinue west over fairly good mountain road. 

68.2 Road leaves mountains. Continue over good plains road. 

73.8 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on left ls an old road now washed out 
and impassable. Turn west (right) and continue over rather poor valley 
road. 

75.4 Faint road to left leads 0.7 mile south to apiary, where there is a driven well 
that yields water of poor quality, which may be used for drinking in an 
emergency. The well is equipped with a pump, but it may be necessary to 
prime the pump. 

77.7 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left was once a part of the main 
road but is now washed out and impassable at one place. Near this old road, 
1.8 miles from the main road, is a cattlemen’s camp, with a driven well that 
yields salty water. Continue on main road, passing south of lava buttes and 
skirting them on fair valley road to mile 83.9; then cross low lava mesa on 
good road to mile 86.8; then pass over fair river-bottom road. 

94. 0 Small ranch where salty water could be obtained in an emergency, 


130 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

94. 6 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on north is the new road across the 
Gila Bend Mountains. Set speedometer to mile 97.7 and use log of main 
Yuma-Phoenix road. (See p. 127.) 

YUMA TO PHOENIX BY MAIN ROAD (199 MILES). 

[See pp. 126-129 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 From Yuma depot go east for \\ miles on asphalt to outskirts of Yuma. Then 
continue east on poor sandy river-bottom road to Blaisdell. 

13. 3 Blaisdell railroad station. Road south from here to Fortuna mine. Continue 
east along good graded road. 

20. 0 Dome. Water, gasoline, oil, supplies, post office, and railroad station. Con¬ 
tinue east past railroad station; a good graded road extends for 8 miles east of 
Dome; beyond that point the road has chuck holes and dust in dry weather 
and mud in wet weather, growing worse toward Weilton. This road is under¬ 
going improvement west of Weilton, and new roads to homesteads are being 
made. It lies in a flood plain of Gila River between the river on the north 
and the Southern Pacific Railroad on the south, so it is impossible to get 
far off it. Continue east. 

37.5 Weilton. Water, gasoline, oil, supplies, post office, hotel, and Southern 
Pacific station. Turn north and northeast, continuing to Gila River across 
Antelope Bridge, avoiding branch roads to ranches. Road has chuck holes 
and is very dusty in dry weather and muddy in wet weather. 

46.4 Cross Antelope Bridge (concrete) over Gila River. Water usually obtainable 
in river bed, but it is not of good quality for human use. Continue north for 
2 miles on graded road that is in poor shape. Turn east, passing ranch build¬ 
ing with windmill (mile 52.6). Continue northeast and east, passing deserted 
school (mile 56.9) to Hicks ranch. Road goes over silt of flood plain, full of 
chuck holes in dry weather and very muddy in wet weather. 

62. 6 Hicks ranch. Well with salty but drinkable water. Supply small, so that 
owner prefers that it be used only in emergency. Continue east from the 
ranch. 

63.7 Norton. Ranch buildings, old store, and post office. Salty but drinkable 
water, but no supplies obtainable. Road due north from Norton goes to 
Deep Wells and beyond; little traveled. Road south to Mohawk (7 miles), 
a station on the Southern Pacific. From Norton start northeast, then turn 
east past the schoolhouse, avoiding road which continues to north (left). 
The present route continues east and northeast along the flood plain of Gila 
River. Avoid branch roads leading off to ranches along the route. Water 
obtainable at several of these ranches in emergency. Continue to fork. The 
exact road used varies from time to time and with the seasons. Follow most- 
used tracks or get local advice. Road full of chuck holes in dry weather and 
muddy in wet weather. 

73.1 Fork. Keep straight ahead on main road. Road on right goes three-fourths 

of a mile to Farra’s ranch, where there is a well that yields fairly good water. 

81. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue northeast, avoiding road to north 
(left), which is old road to Yuma by way of Deep Well and Castle Dome, now 
no water or habitation for 55.5 miles from this fork. 

85. 5 Palomas. Water, gasoline, oil, supplies, meals, post office, and camp grounds. 
Continue north through Palomas, avoiding road forking to right, Geological 
Survey sign (mile 86.3), which is old road from Palomas to Agua Caliente. 

88.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right, avoiding fork on left, which is 

road to Harquahala and Salome. Continue northeast, avoiding faint road 
forking to left at mile 95.1, which goes to Frank Baragan’s well (1} miles). 
Well has windmill, windlass and buckets, and good water. 



ROAD LOGS. 


131 


99. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue northeast, avoiding road forking 
to right, which is old road from Palomas. 

100. 9 Agua Caliente. Hot springs, water, gasoline, oil, supplies, hotel, and garage, 

but no automobile repairs except very minor ones. Continue north through 
Agua Caliente, passing road to south at mile 100.9. 

101. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue north, avoiding road to east (right), 

which is old road to Arlington. 

101. 6 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue north, avoiding road forking to left 
to homestead of G. T. Morris (0.7 mile). There are two wells here, but neither 
is used, and the water is reported to be undrinkable. Mr. Morris keeps a 
supply of somewhat salty but drinkable water at his house. 

120. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road fork¬ 
ing to right, an old road now open only to bank of wash near State Well (0.5 
mile); permanent water but unprotected from contamination; no facilities 
for getting it; rope and bucket must be provided. 

120. 2 Cross wash. Graded road starts here. Continue east on graded State road 
(steep grades, many turns, good road) to Geological Survey sign, near Yellow 
Medicine Tank. About a mile south of the tank is Yellow Medicine Well, 
on the east side of Yellow Medicine Wash. Permanent water, but well is 
poorly protected, consequently water is usually contaminated. 

123.1 Yellow Medicine Tank. Small rock tank in gully 75 yards south of Geo¬ 

logical Survey sign. Water good if clean, usually fit for stock or automobile 
only. Dries up in long dry spells. Continue east past the sign. 

126. 7 Willow Tanks. Unreliable. Geological Survey sign. Water in two natural 

tanks 50 yards upstream from road, except after long dry season, also in 
another tank in a small side gully south of main wash about 200 yards 
downstream from road; wooden platform on north bank of main wash short 
distance downstream from point where gully containing the tank enters the 
wash. Water in all three tanks good if clean, usually fit for stock or automo¬ 
bile only. Continue northeast and east past Geological Survey sign at 
Willow Tanks. 

127. 9 Fourth of July Wash. Water can be obtained by digging in sand of this wash 

200 to 300 yards downstream from road, except after long, dry season. Cross 
Fourth of July Wash. Here road makes steep ascent. Continue northeast 
and north over good winding mountain road. 

131. 3 Turn east (right); faint road to left goes to Clantons Well and beyond. Used 
only by cattlemen. 

134.1 Dixie mine. Good water in well on north side of road when mine is working 

and well attended to. Continue east. 

136. 8 Surprise Well. Good water when windmill is pumping. Continue past 
Surprise Well on fair to good plains road. 

144. 0 Fork. Continue straight ahead. Road to northwest (left) connects with 
abandoned Harquahala freight road, now used only to reach some of the wells 
of the Flower Pot Cattle Co. Continue east past house at mile 149. 0, descend¬ 
ing bluff. 

149. 4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn north. Road straight ahead is alter¬ 
nate road to Arlington. (Road to south goes to Enterprise ranch; old road 
across Gila Bend Mountains turns west from it 2 miles south of this fork. For 
log of this road, see p. 129.) Continue north and east past two green bunga¬ 
lows to Arlington store (mile 151. 4), supplies and water. Alternate road goes 
south 1 mile and west 1 mile from Arlington store. Continue east past 
Arlington store. Go east around lava cliff on river bottom road which is 
poor around cliff; then go north to fork. 


494 L7°—23-10 



132 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


155.0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn east (road west is Parker cut-off, 
alternate route to Los Angeles by way of Parker and Bouse or Wenden). 
Continue east, crossing Hassayampa River (mile 155. 2); usually very little 
water. (Road east by way of Liberty as far as Buckeye Canal is graded and 
usually in fair repair.) 

157. 9 Palo Yerde. Supplies and water. Continue east through Palo Verde. • 

158. 9 Turn north. 

159. 4 Turn east for 2 miles. 

161. 4 Turn north. 

162. 4 Turn east and continue through crossroads (mile 164. 4). Geological Survey 

sign. Road to south here leads across Gila River to Gila Bend. 

164. 7 Buckeye. Supplies, food, lodging, auto repairs, and water. Continue east. 

165. 3 Turn north. 

165. 9 Turn east. Branch road on left (northeast) leads across desert, joining main 
road^at mile 176. 0. 

170. 6 Liberty. Supplies and water. Continue east. 

172. 3 Go north, crossing Buckeye Canal (mile 173.9) and Arizona Eastern Railroad 
(mile 173.8). 

176. 0 Turn east. Road coming in from west is alternate route across desert from mile 
165.9. 

176. 5 Turn north. 

176. 7 Turn east. Road on this stretch usually chucky in part. 

182. 7 Coldwater store. Supplies and water. Continue east, ford west branch of 
Agua Fria River (usually an easy ford), cross east branch on concrete roadway, 
turn to right, make abrupt turn to left, and turn just east of Agua Fria River. 
185.1 Caskion. Supplies and water. Go east for about 13 miles (good dirt road). 

196. 5 Fork. Turn north, crossing first the Arizona Eastern Railroad tracks, then the 

Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway tracks. Pavement begins at Nine¬ 
teenth Avenue. 

197. 0 Turn on Nineteenth Avenue. 

197. 3 Go east on Jefferson Street. 

197. 4 Go north on Seventeenth Street to Washington Street. Go east on Washington 

Street past the Capitol Building and the courthouse (mile 198.5). Turn 
south on Central Avenue to the Arizona Eastern Railroad station. 

198. 9 Phoenix. Arizona Eastern Railroad station. 

YTJMA TO PHOENIX BY OLD ROAD ACROSS GILA BEND MOUNTAINS (202 MILES). 

[See p. 129 in regard to this road. For road from Yuma to Agua Caliente see log on p. 130.] 

100. 9 Agua Caliente. Hot springs, water, supplies, hotel, and garage, with gasoline 

and a few other supplies. Continue east, later turning northeast. 

101. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Follow right-hand road, avoiding road to left, 

which is new road across Gila Bend Mountains. (See mile 101.2 of log on 
p. 131.) 

102. 2 Small ranch where salty water could be obtained in an emergency. Fair 

valley road to mile 109.8. 

109. 8 Low lava mesa. Good mesa road to mile 112.7, then on fair river bottom road, 
skirting base of buttes. 

118.5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to left, avoiding road to right, which 
is abandoned portion of this road, now washed out and impassable at one 
place. Near this old road 1.8 miles from the fork at mile 118.5 is a cow 
punchers’ camp. Driven well, salty water. Continue north and northeast 
on fair to poor river bottom road. At mile 121.3 faint road on right leads 
south 0.7 mile to apiary and driven well with water of poor quality, which 
can be used for drinking in an emergency. The well is equipped with a 
pump, but this may need to be primed. 


ROAD LOGS. 


133 


122. 4 Old road comes in on right (south). Geological Survey sign. Turn northeast 
(left), avoiding old road on right, now washed out and impassable. Go on 
good plains road to mountains (mile 128.0), then on fairly good mountain 
road. 

132. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road to right goes to Woolsey Tank, 75 
yards to camp ground, water for stock in natural tank, for men in shaft 
of Perhaps mine. Continue on main road, passing another road to Woolsey 
Tank, then on good mountain road. 

136. 8 Webb Well. Geological Survey sign. Well is 150 yards to left of road; good 
water. Continue, passing faint road on left (mile 137.7) to Van Hagen 
windmill, 0.3 mile to north; this is unreliable. 

138. 2 Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on right to Webb mine, on fair to good 
plains road, crossing Arlington canal and entering irrigated district at mile 
144.2. 

145. 2 Junction with north-south road. Geological Survey sign. Turn north (left). 

Road to south (right) goes to Enterprise ranch. 

146. 9 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road on left is the new road across 

the Gila Bend Mountains. Reset speedometer to 149.2 and continue north, 
using log of main Phoenix-Yuma road from this point. (See p. 131.) 

ROUTE BETWEEN PHOENIX AND PARKER BY WAY OF BUCKEYE 

AND SALOME OR WENDEN. 

PHOENIX TO SALOME BY WAY OF BUCKEYE AND PALO VERDE (104 MILES). 

[See pp. 138-139 for log in opposite direction.] 

For log of road from Phoenix to Palo Verde see Phoenix-Yuma log. page 126. 

41. 0 Crossroads at Palo Verde. Continue west. 

43. 7 Ford Hassayampa River. Usually very little water in river. 

43. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid road to south, which is Yuma road. 
(See pp. 126-129.) Continue west and northwest over rocky road around 
basalt hill. Avoid faint branch roads going north on north side of this hill. 

45.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn northwest (right). Road straight ahead 

is an alternate route to Winters Wells but is seldom used. If main road is 
in bad shape it may be advisable to use this alternate. In the next 8 miles 
main road is chucky, with high centers in dry weather and very mudddy 
in wet weather. 

53. 2 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left goes to Arlington and also 
joins with the road straight ahead from mile 45.1, forming alternate route 
from Palo Verde to Winters Wells. Continue straight ahead along north side 
of Palo Verde Hills. 

56.1 Winters Wells. Geological Survey sign. Water. No other supplies. Cat¬ 

tleman’s camp. 

56. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead ever fair to poor 
plains road, avoiding road on left. 

62. 5 Geological Survey Sign at Palo Verde mine. Water but no other supplies. 
Caretaker lives here. Continue over good plains road, avoiding branch road 
on right about 1 mile farther west. 

68. 0 Big Horn Well. Geological Survey sign. Water but no facilities for obtain- 
it. The road all the way from this well to Salome is a fair to good plains road. 
71. 7 Burned Place Well. Geological Survey sign. Water at faucet. Continue 
about 20 miles to Geological Survey sign, where road comes in on right. 
Thence about 1 mile farther to another Geological Survey sign. 


134 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

93.1 Geological Survey sign. Road forks. Road on right is poor road to Wenden. 

Continue straight ahead for either Salome or Wenden. About 3 miles farther 
along main road there is another Geological Survey sign where a road comes 
in on left, crossing Centennial Wash. 

97. 0 Tolladays Well. Water. Usually someone living here. 

97.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take right-hand road. 

99.0 (approximate). Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding 
fork to right. 

101. 4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on north (right) leads to Wenden, 4.0 
miles distant, and is an alternate route to Parker. (See pp. 135-136.) 
Left-hand road at mile 101.4 leads northwest to Salome. Avoid faint roads 
south (left). 

104.1 Railroad crossing. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right across railroad for 
Salome. If bound for Parker or Ehrenberg turn to left along railroad without 
crossing. (For log of remainder of route to Parker see pp. 134-135; to Fhren- 
berg, pp. 142-145.) 

104. 4 Salome depot. Water, gasoline, supplies, hotel, and post office. 

TOLLADAYS WELL TO WENDEN (9 MILES). 

[Seo p. 138 for log in opposite direction.] 

This log is for the use of travelers going to Wenden or to Parker by way of Cunning¬ 
ham Pass. From Phoenix to Tolladays Well use log on pages 133-134. 

0.0 Tolladays Well. Go west. 

0.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Bear right on main road. Road on left goes 
to ranch. 

2. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Keep straight ahead on main road. Road to 

right is abandoned road to Wenden. 

4.4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right. Road on left leads to Salome. 

7. 7 Petes Well, water. Continue north into Wenden, passing Geological Survey 
signs at reverse forks at miles 8.7 and 9.0. 

9. 2 Crossroads in Wenden. Geological Survey sign. Wenden railroad station is 
0.1 mile to the east (right). If bound for Parker continue straight ahead at 
crossroads as indicated by the sign. Water, gasoline, and other automobile 
repairs, garage, stores, and hotels in Wenden. 

SALOME TO PARKER (58 MILES). 

[See pp. 136-137 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Salome railroad station. Go southwest across railroad. 

0. 3 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right along railroad. Road on 
south leads from Palomas, on southeast from Palo Verde and Phoenix, and on 
east from Phoenix, Wickenburg, and Wenden. Continue along railroad on 
good plains road to border of Granite Wash Hills. 

3. 8 Go southwest through Granite Wash Pass on good mountain road. 

6. 2 Emerge from hills and continue westward over good plains road near railroad. 

10 6 Vicksburg railroad station. Water, groceries, and post office, but no auto¬ 
mobile supplies. Continue westward as directed by Geological Survey sign 
over winding but good plains road along railroad, passing railroad w ell at Mc- 
Vay; usually no water obtainable. 

30. 7 Bouse railroad station. Water, gasoline, supplies, automobile repairs, hotels, 
and post office. Road north across railroad leads along Arizona <& Swansea 
Railroad to Swansea. (See p. 142.) Leaving Bouse for Parker, turn south 
as directed by Geological Survey sign. Follow most traveled road south and 
west through town. In Bouse two roads leading south (left) to Quartzsite 


ROAD LOGS. 


135 


branch off the road to Parker. (See pp. 143-144.) These forks are marked by 
Geological Survey signs. After leaving Bouse follow graded dirt road near 
railroad. Roads leading to mines leave main road at miles 33.7, 34.4, and 
35.2 but are not confusing. The road between Bouse and Parker was repaired 
and partly changed in winter of 1918. As these changes are not known, 
the exact log can not be given, but there is little danger of losing the way. 
In December, 1917, there was a good road, graded in part, from Bouse to 
mile 45.5, and this was being extended. The unimproved stretch between 
miles 45.5 and 50.4 was poor, with numerous sharp pitches and some sand. 

50. 4 Road swings west away from railroad on fair desert road. 

51. 6 Enter gully and continue down its sandy bed. 

53. 3 Turn north (right) out of gully and continue over fair sandy road. 

58. 0 Geological Survey sign at street comer. Turn east (right). 

58. 2 Parker railroad station. Water, gasoline, supplies, garages, hotels in town. 
Travelers bound for California turn north (left) at street comer opposite 
railroad station (Geological Survey sign) and continue to ferry over Colorado 
River. The exact location of this changes with the river. Follow ferry¬ 
man’s signs. Distance about If miles. Charges $2 per automobile (Decem¬ 
ber, 1917). (For roads in California see Water-Supply Paper 490-B.) From 
Parker there is also a road down the river to Ehrenberg Ferry (see p. 145) and 
one east through Cunningham Pass to Wenden (seepp. 137-138). 

WEKDEN TO PARKER BY WAY OF BUTLER WELL (57 MILES). 

[See pp. 137-138 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Wenden railroad station. Go southwest to railroad crossing. 

0.1 Railroad crossing. Geological Survey sign. Go north across railroad. 

0. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign on wooden post. Continue north, avoiding road 
to east (right) and also road just beyond it going west (left). Go straight 
ahead on fair to good plains road, poor when wet, to fork. 

0. 7 Fork. Geological Survey sign on wooden post. Continue straight ahead, 
avoiding road to left here and another faint one at mile 1.6. 

4. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue north and northeast, avoiding road 
to northwest (left). The ascent of Harcuvar Mountains through Cunningham 
Pass commences soon after passing this signpost. Road across mountains is 
good. 

8. 2 Fork. Wooden sign marked “The Black Reef.” Continue straight ahead, 
avoiding road on left to mine. 

8. 9 Fork. Wooden sign marked “Wenden, 9 mi. The Desert Mining and Devel¬ 

opment Co.” Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on left leading to mine. 
Beyond this fork 0.2 mile is another road leading to same mine. On right of 
road, 100 yards away, near this fork, is a covered well with good water but 
no facilities for getting it. It is 62 feet to water, which can be obtained with 
a rope and bucket. Continue to summit. 

9. 5 Summit of Cunningham Pass. Just beyond the summit a mine road forks to 

left, marked by Geological Survey sign. Continue on main road down slope. 

10. 0 Fork. Continue on main road. Road on left leads to a mine. 

10. 1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Right-hand road goes to Alamo, 30 miles 
north. Take left fork. 

10. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take right-hand road. 

11.4 Fork. Geological Survey sign on wooden post; also wooden sign marked 
“Black Giant mine.” Take left fork, avoiding road on right, which leads 
to the mine. 




136 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

> 

15. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign; also metal sign, without post, marked “Parker 
42 mi. [pointing along left-hand road], Renada ranch 6 mi. [pointing along 
right-hand road].” Renada ranch has a well and water supply. For Butler 
Well and Parker take left fork and continue over fair plains road. 

21.1 Butler Well. Geological Survey sign at crossroads. Road on right goes to 

Renada ranch (4.9 miles). Road to left goes down valley to Graham Well. 
Middle road, passing on left side of Butler Well, leads to Parker. Road for 
next 4 miles is good plains road, then good for 6 miles through spur of Buck¬ 
skin Mountains. 

22. 2 Continue on main road, avoiding faint road on right. 

24. 4 Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road that comes in 
on right. 

30. 4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road to right goes to Midway and Swansea. 

Take left-hand road. 

31.0 Fork at railroad. Geological Survey sign. Road on right along railroad goes 
to Midway (water tank), about a mile distant, and to Swansea. For 
Parker turn to left along railroad. 

31.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road straight ahead along railroad goes to 

Bouse. For Parker turn to right and cross railroad. 

31. 6 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left joins road to Bouse along rail¬ 

road at a Geological Survey sign, 0.3 mile south of point where Parker road 
crosses railroad. Parker road goes northwest 3 miles, then swings west, and 
goes through pass in small spur of Buckskin Mountains. Some sand in pass. 
Road from pass nearly to Osbornes Well is fair plains road. Avoid faint roads 
crossing or branching from it. 

42. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on right leads to Osbornes Well, 1 mile 

distant. Water and shelter. Road straight ahead is main road to Parker. 

43. 9 Geological Survey sign. Road on right comes from Osbornes Well, 0.4 mile 

distant. Turn to left and continue on main road to Parker. The road is 
fairly good for 7 miles, then very sandy for 6 miles. 

57.2 Parker railroad station. Water, hotels, stores, and garages. Ferry over 

Colorado River; charge, $2 per automobile (in 1917). 

PARKER TO SALOME (58 MILES). 

[See pp. 134-135 for log in opposite direction.] 

0.0 Parker railroad station. Go west. 

0. 2 Geological Survey sign at comer. Turn south (left) and continue over fair 
sandy road. 

4. 9 Turn east (left) and go up sandy bed of gully. 

6. 6 Leave gully and continue over fair plains road to railroad. 

7.8 Road reaches railroad and runs southward along it. From this point follow 
main traveled road along railroad to Bouse. Road was repaired and partly 
changed in winter of 1918. As these changes are not known the exact log 
can not be given, but there is little danger of losing the way. Roads leading 
to mines leave the main one at miles 23.0, 23.8, and 24.5 but are not confusing. 
In December, 1917, there was a good road, graded in part, from mile 12.7 to 
Bouse, and this was being extended. The unimproved stretch between 
miles 7.8 and 12.7 was poor with numerous sharp pitches and some sand. 
27.5 Bouse railroad station. Water, gasoline, supplies, automobile repairs, hotels, 
and post office. In the town of Bouse two roads leading south (right') to 
Quartzsite are passed. These forks are marked by Geological Survey signs. 
Leaving Bouse for Salome turn to right, keeping on west side of railroad as 
directed by Geological Survey sign at street corner opposite and south of 
railroad station. Continue along railroad over winding but good plains road 
to Vicksburg, passing railroad well at McVay; usually no water obtainable. 


ROAD LOGS. 


137 


47. 6 Vicksburg railroad station. Water, groceries, and post office, but no automo¬ 
bile supplies. Continue eastward as directed by Geological Survey sign over 
good plains road near railroad to border of Granite Wash Hills. 

52. 0 Go northeast through Granite Wash Pass over good mountain road. 

54. 4 Emerge from hills and continue over good plains road. 

57. 9 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road north goes across railroad into 
Salome. Water, gasoline, supplies, hotel, post office, and railroad station. 
Road straight ahead along railroad goes to Wenden and Wickenburg and 
thence to Phoenix or Prescott. (See pp. 141-142.) Road southeast goes to 
Palo Verde, Buckeye, and Phoenix. (See pp. 138-139.) Road south goes to 
Harquahala and Palomas. 

PARKER TO WENDEN (57 MILES). 

[See pp. 135-136 for log in opposite direction.! 

0. 0 Parker, Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway depot, garages, hotels, stores, 
water in town. Cross railroad track south of station and go east. Continue 
on the main road, avoiding any faint roads branching off from it. Road is 
very sandy for 6 miles from Parker, then fair to good plains road for 8 m.ile6. 

13. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right, avoiding road on left to 

Osbornes Well (0.4 mile). Water, shelter, no other supplies to reverse 
fork. Geological Survey sign. Road from fork near Osbornes Well is fair 
to good plains road. Continue straight ahead. 

14. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road forking back to left is fairly good road 

to Osbornes Well (1 mile). Continue to pass in small spur of Buckskin Moun¬ 
tains. Go through pass (some sand in pass). Road here swings east, then goes 
southeast 3 miles to fork, Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead to 
Arizona & Swansea Railroad, avoiding road forking to right. Latter joins 
road to Bouse along railroad at fork (Geological Survey sign) 0.3 mile south of 
point where Parker road crosses railroad. Cross this railroad to fork. 

26. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to left along railroad. Road on right goes 
to Bouse. Road for next 6 miles is good mountain road through spur of 
Buckskin Mountains, then good plains road for 4 miles. 

26. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right. Road on left along railroad 
goes to Midway (water tank), about a mile distant, and to Swansea. 

26. 8 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on left 
to Midway and Swansea. 

32. 8 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid fork to left. Continue on main road. 
35. 0 Fork. Continue on main road, avoiding faint road on left. 

36.1 Butler Well at crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road on right goes down 

valley to Graham Well. Road on left goes to Renada ranch (4.9 miles). 
From Butler Well good plains road to point near fork. 

41. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign and metal sign without post marked ‘‘Parker 
42 miles, Renada ranch 6 miles [pointing along road forking back to left].” 
Road enters mountains shortly before reaching fork. Continue. 

45.8 Fork. Geological Survey sign (wooden post) and wooden sign marked “Black 
Giant mine. ” Take right fork, avoiding road on left to mine. 

46. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to left, avoiding road on right. 

47.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take right fork; left fork goes to Alamo (30 

miles). 

47.2 Fork. Continue on main road, avoiding road on right to mine. Continue on 

main road up slope, avoiding mine road forking to right, marked by Geolog¬ 
ical Survey sign just before reaching summit. 

47.7 Summit of Cunningham Pass. Continue on main road down slope. Road 
across mountains is good mountain road. 


138 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


48.1 Fork. On left of road 100 yards away is covered well, good water, but no facili¬ 

ties for getting it. It is 62 feet to water, which can be obtained with a rope 
and bucket. From fork continue south. 

48. 3 Fork. Wooden sign marked “ Wenden 9 mi., The Desert Mining and Develop¬ 
ment Co.” Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on right to mine. 

49.0 Fork. Wooden sign marked “The Black Reef.” Continue southwest and 
south, avoiding road to northwest (right). 

53. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue south and southwest, avoiding road 
to northwest (right) and another faint one farther south at mile 55.6. From 
this point to Wenden is fair to good plains road. 

56. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign (wooden post). Continue south, avoiding road 
on right. Geological Survey sign. 

56. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign (wooden post). Continue south on main road. 

57.1 Railroad crossing. Geological Survey sign at crossroads on south side of rail¬ 

road. Go east to Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway station. 

57. 2 Wenden, Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway station. 

WENDEN TO TOLLADAYS WELL (9 MILES). 

[Soe p. 134 for log in opposite direction.! 

This log is for the use of travelers going to Phoenix by way of Cunningham Pass 
and Wenden. From Parker to Wenden use log on pages 137-138. From Tolladays 
Well to Phoenix use log on pages 138-139. 

0. 0 Wenden railroad station. Go west. 

0.1 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Turn south. 

0. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right. Road on left is poor road to 
Tolladays Well. 

0.6 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to right on main road. 

1. 6 Petes Well, water. Continue south. 

4. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn to left. Road on right leads to Salome. 

Continue, passing Geological Survey signs at reverse forks at miles 7.3 and 9.2. 
9. 3 Tolladays Well, water. 

SALOME TO PHOENIX BY WAY OF PALO VERDE AND BUCKEYE (104 MILES). 

[See pp. 133-134 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Salome railroad station. Go southwest across railroad. The road all the way 
from Salome to Palo Verde mine is a fair to good plains road. 

0.3 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Turn southeast (left) as indicated by 
sign. Road coming in on west along railroad leads from Parker (see p. 137); 
that along railroad on east leads to Wenden, Wickenburg, and Phoenix (see 
pp. 141-142), and that on south leads to Harquahala and Palomas (see 
pp. 150-151). 

3.0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left is from Wenden and 
is alternative route from Parker. Continue, passing Geological Survey signs 
at reverse forks at miles 5.4 and 7.3. 

7.4 Tolladays Well, water, usually someone living here. Continue straight ahead. 
7.7 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road to 
right, which leads to cattle watering places in Harquahala Plain, used only 
by cattlemen. 

11.3 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left is poor alternate road 

from Wenden. Continue straight ahead. 

12.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Bear to right. Road on left goes to mine. 

32. 7 Burned Place Well. Geological Survey sign. Water, faucet is provided. 

36. 4 Big Horn Well. Geological Survey sign. Water but no facilities for obtain¬ 
ing it. 


ROAD LOGS. 


139 


41.9 Palo Yerdo mine. Geological Survey sign. Water but no other supplies. 
Caretaker lives here. Continue straight ahead over fair to poor plains road. 

48.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign' Continue on main road, avoiding road on 

right. 

48. 3 Winters Wells. Geological Survey sign. Water but no other supplies, cattle¬ 
man’s camp. 

51.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on right leads to Arlington and also 

joins with a road which rejoins the main road to Palo Yerde at mile 59.3, 
forming alternate route. When the main road is in bad shape it is sometimes 
advisable to use this alternate. For 8 miles from this fork the main road is 
chucky, with high centers in dry weather and very muddy in wet weather. 

59. 3 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on right is alternate mentioned above. 

Continue over rocky road around basalt hill. Avoid faint branch roads going 
north on north side of this hill. 

60. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn east (left), avoiding road to south, which 

is Yuma road. (See p. 127.) 

60. 7 Ford Hassayampa River. Usually very little water in river. 

63. 4 Crossroads at Palo Yerde. For log of road from Palo Yerde to Phoenix see 
Yuma to Phoenix log (p. 132). 

HOTJTE BETWEEN PHOENIX AND WENDEN OR SALOME BY WAY OF 

WICKENBTJRG. 

- PHOENIX TO WICKENBTTRG (62 MILES). 

[See pp. 141-142 for log in opposite direction.] 

0.0 Phoenix. Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway station. Go north on 
Central Avenue to Yan Buren Street. 

0. 5 Turn west (left) on Van Buren Street to Five Points. 

1. 0 Five Points. Turn northwest (right) on Grand Avenue (electric-car track). 

Continue northwest. 

2. 3 State Fair Grounds on right. End of electric-car track. 

2. 4 Railroad crossing and end of asphalt road. Cross railroad and then follow it. 

3. 8 Clarks station. 

4. 8 Alhambra station. 

6. 5 Kane siding. 

8. 7 Fair Hope Farm. Macadam road ends. 

9. 3 Glendale station. Water, gasoline, and supplies. Continue northwest along 

railroad, through town, avoiding roads crossing main one at miles 9.8, 10 . 2 , 
and 10.8. 

12. 2 Railroad crossing. Cross railroad and canal and continue northwest along 

railroad. 

13. 6 Peoria, water, gasoline, and supplies. Continue northwest, passing Good¬ 

rich sign at crossroad just beyond station. 

14. 9 Crossroads. 

15. 4 New River. Cross on concrete dip. 

15. 6 Avoid branch road on right. 

16. 5 Crossroads. Transformer house. Marinette station. 

16. 8 Fork. Goodrich sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on right. 

17. 6 Fork. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on left. 

18. 0 Agua Fria River. Cross river, poor ford, quicksand in flood time. Continue 

northwest along railroad. 

18. 4 Fork at railroad water tank. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on left. 

19. 7 Crossroads. 

20. 0 Ennis station. 


140 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


20.1 Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on left. 

21. 8 Avoid road on left. Continue along railroad. 

24. 3 Beardsley siding. Section house. Road forks just beyond station. Con¬ 
tinue straight ahead, avoiding road on left. 

27. 3 Hoover. Ranch buildings, abandoned well, no water. Continue along rail¬ 
road. 

33. 4 New graded road starts. 

35. 9 Nada siding. Continue along railroad. 

43. 3 Cross railroad to Hot Springs Junction. Water for sale from railroad tank; 
also supplies and hotel. Continue northeast, leaving railroad and avoiding 
road on left, which leads to Wickenburg along railroad but is a poor road. 

45. 4 Avoid old road forking off on left. 

46.1 Fork. Take left-hand road, avoiding road on right, which leads to Castle Hot 

Springs, 21.5 miles from this point. 

46. 8 Old road comes in on right. 

49. 9 Fork at Santo Domingo Wash. Water in sand approximately 300 yards 

downstream from road at all seasons. Runs on surface in rainy season. 
Take right-hand road. 

50. 2 Fork. Road on right goes to Tub Springs, 1.2 miles from this point, and re¬ 

joins road 0.8 mile farther on. Water in sand of Tub Springs Wash above 
and below road at all seasons, runs on surface in rainy season. Take left 
fork. 

51. 8 Road coming in on right leads to Tub Springs, 0.8 mile away. Continue north¬ 

ward on main road. 

55.1 Road coming in on right leads to mining camps. Continue straight ahead. 

57.1 Fork. Turn southwest (left). 

61. 5 Cross bridge over Hassayampa River and continue to Wickenburg. 

61. 8 Wickenburg post office. Water and supplies. 

WICKENBURG TO WENDEN AND SALOME (58 MILES). 

[See p. 141 for log in opposite direction.] 

Most of this portion of the Parker cut-off was not traveled during the present investi¬ 
gation. The logs southwest and northeast are in large part adapted from that given in 
Arizona Good Roads Association Illustrated Road Maps and Tour Book, by Harry 
Locke, 1913. 

0.0 Wickenburg post office. Go west along railroad. 

0.1 Railroad crossing. Turn right across railroad. 

0.3 Fork. Keep straight ahead, avoiding road on left. 

0. 6 House and windmill. 

1. 5 Another road from Wickenburg comes in on right. Continue straight ahead. 
2.0 Fork. Tin sign. Road to left leads to Vulture mine, which is 11.7 miles from 
this point. Take right fork. Passthrough northern part of Vulture Mountains. 
10.3 Fork. Take left fork. 

17. 9 Road reaches railroad and continues along it. 

21. 2 Forepaugh. Continue along railroad, avoiding crossroads and forks leading off. 
27. 3 Road passes windmill. 

29.1 Aguila. Railroad water supply. Continue along south side of railroad, 

avoiding crossroads and forks leading off. 

52.6 Wenden. Water, gasoline, supplies, post office, and hotels. Road south from 
Wenden leads to Tolladays Well, Palo Verde, and Phoenix. (See pp. 
138-139.) Road north leads to Parker through Cunningham Pass (see pp. 
135-136), also to Alamo. Geological Survey sign at crossroads. Continue 
along south side of railroad over new graded county road. 


ROAD LOGS. 


141 


58.0 Railroad crossing. Geological Survey sign. Turn right across railroad for 
Salome depot (mile 58.3), or continue along south side of railroad for Vicks¬ 
burg and Parker. (See pp. 134-135.) Salome has water, gasoline, supplies, 
post office, and hotel. Road south from Salome leads to Harquahala and Palo- 
mas. (See pp. 150-151.) Road southeast leads to Tolladays Well, Palo 
Verde, and Phoenix. (See pp. 138-139.) 

SALOME AND WENDEN TO WICKENBURG (58 MILES). 

[See pp. 140—141 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Salome depot. Go west to railroad crossing and cross to south side. 

0. 3 Crossroads on south side of railroad. Geological Survey sign. Turn to left and 
continue on new graded county road along railroad. 

5. 7 Wenden. Geological Survey sign. Water, gasoline, supplies, post office, 

and hotels. Road south from Wenden leads to Tolladays Well, Palo Verde, 
and Phoenix. (See pp. 138-139.) Road north leads to Parker through Cun¬ 
ningham Pass (see pp. 135-136), also to Alamo. Geological Survey sign at 
crossroads. Continue along south side of railroad, avoiding crossroads and 
forks leading off. 

29. 2 Aguila. Railroad water supply. Continue along railroad, avoiding cross¬ 
roads and forks leading off. 

31. 0 Road passes a windmill. 

37.1 Forepaugh. Continue along railroad. 

40. 4 Turn southeast (right) away from railroad. 

48. 0 Road comes in on left. Continue southeast and later east, passing through 
northern part of the Vulture Mountains. 

56. 3 Tin sign. Road coming in on right leads to Vulture mine, which is 11.7 miles 
from this point. Continue northeast. 

56. 8 Fork. Both roads go to Wickenburg. Take right-hand road. 

57. 7 Road passes house and windmill. 

58. 0 Fork. Keep straight ahead, avoiding road on right. 

58. 2 Railroad crossing. Cross to east side. 

58. 3 Wickenburg post office. Water and other supplies. 

WICKENBURG TO PHOENIX (62 MILES). 

[See pp. 139-140 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Wickenburg post office. Go east across Hassayampa River bridge (0.3 mile), 
then north. « 

4. 7 Fork. Goodrich sign. Turn east, avoiding road to north (left) on good mountain 
road. 

6. 7 Fork. Goodrich and two other signs. Take right-hand road, avoiding road on 

left to mining camps. 

10. 0 Fork. Road to left (wooden sign) goes to Tub Springs (0.8 mile), then rejoins 

main road 1.2 miles farther east. Water in sand of Tub Springs Wash 
at all seasons; runs on surface in rainy season. Continue on right fork (main 
road). 

11. 6 Fork. Road forking back on left goes to Tub Springs (1.2 miles), then rejoins 

main road 0.8 mile farther west. Continue straight ahead. 

11.9 Santo Domingo Wash. Goodrich sign. Water in sand approximately 300 
yards downstream from road at all seasons. Runs on surface in rainy season. 
Continue, avoiding old road on left (mile 15.0). 

15. 7 Fork. Turn south, avoiding road on north (left) to Castle Hot Springs (mile 
21.5). Continue south to Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway crossing at 
Hot Springs Junction (Goodrich sign), avoiding old road on right (mile 16.4) 


142 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


and road on left a short distance north of railroad. Hot Springs 3 unction 
is town of 14 houses, water for sale from railroad tank, supplies, hotel. Cross 
railroad and turn southeast (left) along railroad on graded road. 

25. 9 Pass Nada siding and continue. New graded road ceases at mile 28.4. 

34. 5 Pass Hoover, ranch buildings, abandoned well, no water, and continue. 

37. 5.Fork. Goodrich sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on right and 
passing Beardsley siding, section house, just beyond fork, and a road to 
right (mile 40.0). 

41. 7 Fork. Goodrich sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on right, pass¬ 
ing Ennie siding (mile 41.8), and crossing road (mile 42.1). 

43. 4 Fork at water tank, wooden sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on 
right. 

43. 8 Cross Agua Fria River, poor ford, quicksand in flood time. Continue southeast 

along railroad. 

44. 2 Fork. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on right. 

45.0 Fork. Goodrich sign. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on left, cross 
road at transformer house, Marinette station (mile 45.3), cross New River 
on concrete dip (mile 46.4), cross another road (mile 46.9), and another one. 
Goodrich sign, just before reaching Peoria station. 

48.2 Pass Peoria station. Water, gasoline, and supplies in town. Continue to 
railroad crossing. Sign on each side of railroad. 

49.6 Cross canal and railroad and continue southeast along railroad, crossing roads at 
miles 51.0, 51.6, and 52.0, passing through town of Glendale. Water, gaso¬ 
line, supplies, and hotels in town. 

52. 5 Pass Glendale station and continue past Fair Hope Farm. Macadam road starts 
here (mile 53.1). Pass Kane siding (mile 55.3), Alhambra station (mile 
67.0), cross railroad, follow asphalt street (Grand Avenue) (mile 59.4), pass 
State Fair Grounds, and follow electric-car track (mile 59.5) to Five Points. 

60. 8 Turn east at Five Points on Van Buren Street to Central Avenue. 

61. 3 Turn south on Central Avenue. 

61. 8 Phoenix. Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway station. 

BOUSE-SWAN SEA ROUTE. 

The road from Bouse to Swansea runs northward along the Arizona & Swansea Rail¬ 
road. At 12 miles from Bouse it crosses the Wenden-Parker road and continues 
along the railroad 10 miles to Swansea, a mining town which operates the only smelter 
in this section of the country. The first 12 miles from Bouse is a good desert road that 
keeps close *o the railroad and crosses it four times. At 12 miles north of Bouse the 
road enters the mountains. The last 10 miles to Swansea was not traveled during 
the present survey. The road is reported to be a good mountain road. At Midway 
there is a water tank which is usually kept filled by the railroad company. 

VICK SBURG-QUARTZ SITE ROUTE. 

VICKSBURG TO QUARTZSITE (30 MILES). 

[See p. 143 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Vicksburg depot. Geological Survey sign. Go south and southwest over 
good plains road. 

4. 9 Desert Well. Water. Geological Survey sign short distance west of well. 
Bear to right, avoiding roads leading off to left, some of them to Twentymile 
Well, which is several miles southwest of this point and has emergency water 
supply. Cross adobe flat, which is miry in wet weather. 


ROAD LOGS. 


143 


10. 9 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left goes to Twentymile Well. 
Continue westward among hills and through valley, then ascend Plomosa 
Mountains over steep and veiy rough road. 

19. 7 Guadalupe mine, near summit. Abandoned; no water or other supplies. De¬ 
scend mountains over a fair mountain road to the plain and continue westward. 

24. 4 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on north (right) leads to Bouse. 
Continue straight ahead. 

24. 9 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on south leads to Plomosa mine. 
Continue straight ahead over good desert road. 

29. 8 Tysons Well. Water. Continue straight ahead to Quartzsite. 

30. 0 Quartzsite post office. Water. From this place roads lead west to Ehren- 

berg and south to Dome and Yuma. 

QUARTZSITE TO VICKSBURG (30 MILES). 

[See pp. 142-143 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Quartzsite. Go east, passing Geological Survey sign near post office. Take 
left fork a short distance past this sign to Tysons Well. Geological Survey 
sign. 

0. 2 Continue to fork. Geological Survey sign. Good plains road to mountains. 

5.1 Fork. Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on south (right) to fork. Geo¬ 
logical Survey sign. 

5. 6 Continue straight ahead, avoiding road on north (left). Ascend Plomosa Moun¬ 
tains, fair mountain road, passing Guadalupe mine (abandoned; no water 
supplies) near summit. 

10. 3 Descend mountains, very rough mountain road, cross inclosed valley, and pass 
through hills to fork. Geological Survey sign. Road east (right) at fork 
goes to Twentymile Well (2.6 miles), where water could be obtained in an 
emergency. A road runs from Twentymile Well to Desert Well (4 miles), 
but it has high centers and chuck holes. Automobilists should use caution 
if they travel over it. 

19.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue, passing Desert Well (mile 25.1). 
Water. Geological Survey sign. Road as far as Desert W r ell over adobe 
flats; look out for high centers, bad in wet weather. Road from Desert Well 
to Vicksburg is good plains road. 

30. 0 Vicksburg. Southern Pacific Railroad station and post office. Geological 
Survey sign. Road west to Parker, east to Wickenburg and Phoenix. 

BOUSE-QUARTZITE ROUTE. 

BOUSE TO QUARTZSITE (24 MILES). 

[See p. 144 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Bouse railroad station. Cross railroad and go south, passing Geological Survey 
sign at corner of street. 

0. 2 Fork at which there is another Geological Survey sign. Road on right goes to 
Parker. Take road on left (west of south). The road from Bouse to Plomosa 
Mountains, 10 miles distant, is a good plains road, except for short stretch of 
silt just out of Bouse. 

0. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on left goes to a mining camp, 10 miles 
away. Take road on right. 

1. 7 Road coming in on right is an alternate road from Bouse. Continue ahead. 

7. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on left goes to Daly mines. Take right- 
hand road. 


144 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

8. 7 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take left-hand road to Plomosa Mountains 
and across them. 

12. 4 Fork on west side of mountains. Geological Survey sign. Road on left goes to 
Plomosa mine. Take right-hand road. The road from this fork to Quartzsite 
is a good plains road. 

23. 8 Forks on outskirts of Quartzsite. Bear to right, avoiding road on left. Con¬ 

tinue on main street to post office. 

24. 2 Quartzsite post office. Water, groceries, and hotel, but no automobile sup¬ 

plies. From the post office roads lead east to Vicksburg (see p. 143); west 
to Ehrenberg, Blythe, and Los Angeles (see pp. 144-145); south to Dome 
and Yuma (see pp. 146-148); and southeast to New Water Pass. 

QUARTZSITE TO BOUSE (24 MILES). 

[See pp. 143-144 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Quartzsite. Post office, water, groceries, hotel. No automobile supplies in 
town. Continue past post office on main street to fork at outskirts of Quartz¬ 
site. Road for 12 miles from this fork is good plains road. 

0. 4 Fork. Go to left, avoiding road on right. 

11. 8 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead through Plomosa 
Mountains on good mountain road. Road coming in on right is from Plomosa 
mine. 

15. 5 Continue straight ahead. Road from the Plomosa Mountains to Bouse is good 
desert road except for a short stretch of silt just south of Bouse. 

17. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take right-hand road. Road coming in on 
left is from Daly mines. 

22. 5 Fork. Go straight ahead, avoiding road on left, which is alternate to Bouse. 

23. 3 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take road on left. Road on right goes to a 

mining camp (10 miles). 

24. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take road on right. Road on left goes to 

Parker. (See log, p. 135.) Go north, passing Geological Survey sign at 
corner of street. Cross railroad to station. If bound east, turn east at sign. 
24 2 Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway station at Bouse. Road northwest 
through town leads to Swansea. 

QUARTZSITE-EHRENBERG ROUTE. 

QUARTZSITE TO EHRENBERG (19 MILES). 

[See p. 145 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Quartzsite post office. Road for 12 miles from Quartzsite is fairly good but 
rough mountain road. From the post office go west, then southwest around 
a hill. 

2. 6 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Left fork goes to some mining camps. Follow 

right fork and continue west. 

3. 6 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Right fork goes to Keiser camp, 1 mile dis¬ 

tant. Follow left fork and continue over winding road through Dome Rock 
Mountains. 

9.1 Gonzales Wells. Water of fair quality. Continue along canyon. 

10. 2 Avoid road on right. 

11. 4 Fork. Avoid tracks on right, down the wash, which go to La Paz gold mine. 

Take road on left, emerging from mountains. There is good plains road for 5 
miles after leaving the mountains. Road then descends to Colorado River 
' flood plain and turns southwest. 


ROAD LOGS. 


145 


12. 6 Geological Survey sign. Avoid road coming in on right. Continue straight 
ahead. 

16. 6 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on right goes to La Paz and to Parker, 
43 miles distant. Continue over sandy river-bottom road southwestwa,rd to 
Ehrenberg Ferry. 

18.8 Ehrenberg Ferry. Wooden shack, no supplies. Wooden ferry boat with 
cable across Colorado River; current furnishes motive power. Charges are $3 
per automobile, $2 per wagon, and 25 cents per foot passenger (1917). The Cali¬ 
fornia side of the river is flooded at high water, caused by melting snow, and 
hence the ferry is usually not operated during the later part of May and dur¬ 
ing June, July, and a part of August. No well, but river water can be used 
if necessary. 

EHRENBERG TO QUARTZSITE (19 MILES). 

[See pp. 144-145 for log in opposite direction.] 

0.0 Ehrenberg Ferry. W’ooden shack, no supplies. Wooden ferry boat with cable 
across Colorado River; current furnishes motive power. Charges are $3 per 
automobile, $2 per wagon, and 25 cents per foot passenger (1917). The Cali¬ 
fornia side of the river here is flooded at high water, caused by melting snows, 
so that ferry is usually out of commission during the later part of May and 
during June, July, and part of August. Continue on sandy river-bottom road. 

2.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Turn north (right), avoiding road forking 
at left (which goes to La Paz and Parker, 43 miles along Colorado River). 

6. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid road forking to left. Continue east. 

7.4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take road on right, avoiding tracks leading 
back to left down wash, which go to La Paz gold mine. Continue, entering 
Dome Rock Mountains. Road from this point to Quartzsite is fairly good 
but rough mountain road. 

8. 6 Fork. Continue, avoiding road on left along canyon. 

9. 7 Gonzales Wells. Water of fair quality is obtainable. Continue on winding 

road through Dome Rock Mountains. 

15.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take right fork. Road forking back goes to 

Keiser camp (1 mile). 

16.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take left fork. Right fork goes to some 

mining camps. Go northeast, then east. 

18. 8 Quartzsite post office. 

EHRENBERG-PARKER ROUTE. 

A poor but passable road lies between Ehrenberg and Parker. From Ehrenberg 
it is the same as the road to Quartzsite for 2.2 miles, where a fork with Geological 
Survey sign is reached. At this fork take left-hand road, leading northward along 
edge of valley, past the abandoned town of La Paz. In December, 1917, the La Paz 
Gold Mining Co. started to drill wells a short distance east of La Paz. 

Between La Paz and Parker there are several possible roads along the river. Water 
can be obtained from the river or from sloughs. Generally the water from these 
sloughs is fit for stock and can be used by man if it is boiled. Shallow wells on the 
Indian reservation yield salty water, none of which is probably drinkable. 


146 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


QUARTZ SITE-DOME ROUTE. 

QTTARTZSITE TO DOME BY MAIN ROAD (73 MILES). 

[See pp. 148-149 for log in opposite direction.] 

Only the new county road across La Posa Plain has been marked by the United 
States Geological Survey. The log of this road is given here. For log of old road 
see pages 147-148. This new road is much better for a stranger to follow because of the 
numerous confusing forks along the old one. The latter is considered better by many 
local people because, having been more traveled, it is harder. 

0.0 Quartzsite post office. Go east to Geological Survey sign, then turn south, 
as indicated on sign, and continue to crossroads. 

0.9 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road on left (southeast) goes to New 
Water Pass, where there is a water supply. Road coming in on left (north¬ 
east) is from Tysons Well, on outskirts of Quartzsite. For Dome bear to the 
right. Fair to good plains road for 30 miles from this point to Castle Dome 
Mountains. 

2.9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on right is the old road. (See pp. 
147-148.) Take left fork. 

13. 6 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. The crossroad comes from the old road 
and Sand Tanks (about 1.5 miles northwest) on the right and leads eastward 
to New Water Pass. Water may be obtained at Sand Tanks by digging in a 
wash. Continue straight ahead. About 2 miles beyond this point the old 
road comes in on right. 

26. 2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid faint road forking back to right, and 
also a similar road just before reaching the sign. These roads go past the so- 
called Clark well, an abandoned dry hole at the side of the valley, and thence 
lead to Cibola on the Colorado. Road to Dome continues southward. The 
old road (winding) and the new road (straight) are close together and cross 
each other in several places. Follow the most traveled road. 

28. 7 Turn southeast (left) and enter pass in Castle Dome Mountains. Go through 
pass on good mountain road and emerge into small valley hemmed in by 
mountains. 

30. 9 Turn to right on leaving the pass. 

32. 0 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Right fork is a fairly good road to Horse 
Tanks, 1.8 miles from this point. These are a series of natural rock tanks 
extending up a canyon. Not difficult to find. Water for stock or auto¬ 
mobile always obtainable, and usually some of the tanks have water clean 
enough for human consumption. Travelers desiring to go to tanks turn off 
at mile 32.0 and rejoin main route at 32.5. (See PI. II.) Left fork is main 
road. Continue on main road unless water is needed. 

32. 5 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on right leads to Horse Tanks, 2 miles 
from this point. Continue straight ahead. 

32. 6 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid fork on left, which is old road to Deep 
Well. Continue on right-hand road. It passes out of the small valley 
through a pass in low hills and then turns to the right and skirts the moun¬ 
tains. It is a good plains road. 

39. 4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid road coming in on left, which leads to 
Deep Well and Palomas. The road to Dome enters the Castle Dome Moun¬ 
tains and is in them for the next 4.7 miles. This part of the road is rough and 
has steep grades but is entirely passable for automobiles in good condition. 

41. 5 Geological Survey sign which indicates direction to McPherson Tanks. 
These are natural rock tanks, 1.5 miles up a canyon from the road. Water 
obtainable at all seasons, usually clean and good. It would be possible to 
drive a wagon up the wash near to these tanks, but an automobile could not 


ROAD LOGS. 


147 


get far from the main road. Continue on main road, steep down grades, 
to border of mountains. Then follow along edge of mountains to Geological 
Survey sign. 

44.1 Geological Survey sign indicationg direction to Ladder Tanks. These are 

natural rock tanks half a mile up a canyon from the road. Water obtainable 
at all seasons, usually clean and good. It would be possible to drive a wagon 
up the wash nearly to these tanks, but an automobile could not get far from 
the main road. Main road continues southward near edge of mountains. 

47. 9 Castle Dome. Old mining camp, usually someone living here. Water but no 

other supplies. Water can usually be obtained from tank at mine shaft or 
from pipe at houses, if this is in repair. Continue, passing schoolhouse. Sev¬ 
eral Goodrich signs at points where mine roads branch off show main road. 
Road from Castle Dome to Gila River (23.2 miles) is excellent desert road. 

48. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take right fork. Road on left goes to mining 

camp. 

49. 6 Geological Survey sign. A branch road on the left leads back to same camp. 

Continue on main traveled road south westward, away from the mountains, 
avoiding faint roads that branch off. There are Goodrich signs at some of 
these forks. 

67.2 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left goes to Thumb Butte 

mine, 15.2 miles distant, and points beyond. It was at one time an alternate 
route to Phoenix but is now not used. Water is obtainable in prospect holes 
at Thumb Butte mine. Road to Dome continues southward. 

68. 4 Fork. Either rpad leads to Dome. Left one avoids steep pitch coming out of 

wash and is therefore somewhat preferable. Mileage given is on left-hand 
road. The other is 0.3 mile shorter. 

69. 7 Alternative road comes in on right. 

71. 2 Point where road descends from terrace to flood plains of Gila River. Old 
buildings, corrals, and a well containing -water that is undrinkable, with wind¬ 
mill that is out of order. From this point cross river flood plain to Dome, on 
the south bank. There are several roads. Take the most traveled one. 
This crossing is sandy but usually not very difficult except when river is 
high. At such times a Mexican is usually at hand to push cars across the 
stream on a flat boat. When the river is actually in flood this crossing is 
impassable. 

73. 3 Dome post office. Water, gasoline, oil, supplies, hotel, and railroad station. 
The water is somewhat salty but drinkable. Road west leads to Yuma (p. 129). 
Road east leads to Phoenix (pp. 130-132). 

QTTARTZSITE TO DOME BY OLD ROAD ACROSS LA POSA PLAIN (73 MILES). 

[See p. 150 for log in opposite direction.] 

Many local people prefer this road to the new county road, because they are more 
used to it and also because the old road, having been more traveled, is harder. The 
distance is practically the same. The numerous roads branching off the old road 
make it rather easy for a stranger to lose his way. No signposts have been erected 
by the Geological Survey. Strangers are recommended to use the new road. 

0. 0 Quartzsite post office. Go east to Geological Survey sign, then turn south as 
indicated on sign and continue to crossroads. 

0. 9 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road on left (southeast) goes to New 
Water Pass, where there is a water supply. Road coming in on left (north¬ 
east) is from Tysons Well, on outskirts of Quartzsite. For Dome bear to the 
right. 

2. 9 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on left is new road. Road on right 
is old one. Take road on right. 


49417°—23-11 



148 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


3. 6 Fork. Take left-hand road. 

3. 9 Abandoned well. No facilities, but water could be obtained with a rope 
in emergency. Depth to water is 36 feet. Continue southward. 

5.5 Fork. Road on right goes to Kuhn’s windmill, 0.6 mile distant. Water 
usually obtainable when windmill is pumping. Was sucking air when visited 
in November, 1917. There is a wash which may be difficult to cross just 
before reaching windmill. To continue on old road to Dome take left fork 
at mile 5.5. 

11.4 Fork. Road on left joins the new road from Quartzsite to Dome. It has 
several branches, all leading in the same general direction. The distance 
from this fork to the Geological Survey sign, at the crossroads at mile 13.6 
on the new road (see p. 146), is a little over 2 miles. Travelers bound for 
Dome should use main log of Quartzsite-Dome road from this sign, or, if it 
should be missed, from the next sign, which is at mile 26.2. Road on right 
at the forks on the old road at mile 11.4 is the road to Cibola. It continues 
to a big wash, 0.S mile farther on, where water is obtainable by digging a foot 
or two in the sand'of the wash. This place is known as Sand Tanks. It 
is possible to reach the Quartzsite-Dome road from the Sand Tanks by striking 
off to the east (left) across the desert, following old roads in part but picking 
one's own way for most of the distance over the desert surface, which makes 
a good road. Distance is 1.8 miles. If one takes this course he will strike 
the main Quartzsite-Dome road about a quarter of a mile south of the Geological 
Survey sign at mile 13.6. If bound for Dome turn to the right on the main 
road and continue southward, using log of Quartzsite-Do/ne road. (See p. 146.) 
Just beyond the wash where the water is available (Sand Tanks) the road 
forks. The left-hand road goes to Cibola, and the right is an abandoned road 
to Ehrenberg. 

DOME TO QUARTZSITE BY MAIN ROAD (73 MILES). 

[See pp. 146-147 for log in opposite direction.] 

0. 0 Dome post office. Water, gasoline, oil, supplies (including feed for horses;, 
hotel, and Southern Pacific Railroad station. Cross the Gila River flood plain 
on one of the several roads. Take the most traveled one. This crossing is 
sandy but usually not very difficult except when river is high. At such 
times a Mexican is at hand to push cars across the stream on a flatboat. When 
the river is actually in flood this crossing is impassable. This road reaches 
a point on the northern bank of the flood plain of Gila River where there are 
old buildings, corrals, and a well with windmill. Windmill is out of order, 
and water in well is undrinkable. 

2.1 At windmill ascend terrace and continue north. 

3. 6 At fork the road to left is left-hand road to next fork. Either road leads to 

Quartzsite. Right one avoids a steep pitch into a wash and is therefore some¬ 
what preferable, especially going south. Mileage given is on right-hand road. 
The other is three-tenths of a mile shorter. 

4. 9 At fork the road coming in on left is left-hand road from last fork. 

6.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid road forking to right. This goes to 

Thumb Butte mine (15.2 miles) and beyond. It was at one time an alternate 
route to Phoenix but is not now used. Water is obtainable in prospect holes 
at Thumb Butte mine. Continue on main traveled road, avoiding faint 
roads branching off. There are Goodrich signs at some'of these forks. 

23. 7 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue on left-hand road, avoiding road on 
right to mining camp. 



ROAD LOGS. 


149 


24. 4 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Take road on left. Road on right goes to 

mi nin g camp. Several Goodrich signs beyond fork at points where mine 
roads branch off show main road. 

25. 4 Castle Dome, old mining camp, usually someone living here. Water but no 

other supplies obtainable. Water can usually be obtained from tank at 
mine shaft, or from pipe at houses, if this is in repair. Follow along edge of 
mountains. 

29.2 Geological Survey sign indicates direction to Ladder Tanks. These are 
natural rock tanks tip a canyon half a mile off road. Water obtainable at all 
seasons, usually clean and good. It would be possible to drive a wagon up 
the wash near to these tanks, but an automobile could not get far off the main 
road. From this sign the road goes through Castle Dome Mountains for 4.7 
miles. It is rough and has steep grades but is entirely passable for cars in 
good condition. Continue from border of mountains up steep grades. 

31. 8 Geological Survey sign here indicates direction to McPherson Tanks. These 
are natural rock tanks up a canyon 1.5 miles off road. Water’obtainable at 
all seasons, usually clean and good. It would be possible to drive a wagon 
up the wash near to these tanks, but an automobile could not get far off the main 
road. Continue straight ahead. 

33. 9 Fork. Avoid road forking off on right, which goes to Deep Well (no water) 
and Palomas. From this point the road skirts the mountains (good plains 
road) and then enters inclosed valley through pass in low hills. 

40. 7 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid fork on right, which is old road to Deep 
Well. 

40. 8 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead. Road on left leads 

to Horse Tanks (2 miles). Northbound travelers use this to go to the tanks 
and the one farther west to rejoin the main road. Southbound travelers de¬ 
siring to go to tanks turn off at mile 41.3 and go to tanks, and use this road 
to return to main road. Horse Tanks are a series of natural rock tanks extend¬ 
ing up a canyon. No difficulty in finding them. Water for stock or auto¬ 
mobile always obtainable. Usually some of the tanks have water clean 
enough for human consumption. 

41. 3 Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on left is from Horse Tanks. 

42. 4 Turn to left and go through pass on good mountain road to turn on west side of 

Castle Dome Mountains. Fair to good plains road for 30 miles from Castle 
Dome Mountains to Quartzsite. 

44. 0 Turn north. 

47.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Avoid faint road forking on left, and also simi¬ 
lar road after passing the sign. These go past abandoned dry well at side of 
valley to Cibola. Along this portion of route the old road (winding) and the 
new road (straight) are close together and cross each other in several places. 
Follow most traveled road. 

59. 7 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead. Road to left 
is old road to Quartzsite (see log, p. 150). Road on right leads to New Water 
Pass. 

69.7 Reverse fork. Geological Survey sign. Continue straight ahead. Road 
coming in on left is old road across La Posa Plain. 

70. 4 Crossroads. Geological Survey sign. Road coming in on right i3 from New 
Water Pass. Road on northeast (right) leads to Tysons Well on the outskirts 
of Quartzsite. If bound for Vicksburg or Bouse, a small distance will be 
saved by using this road. Geological Survey sign at well. For Quartzsite 
bear to left. 

73. 3 Quartzsite post office. 



150 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

DOME TO QUARTZSITE BY OLD ROAD ACROSS LA POSA PLAIN (73 MILES). 

[See pp. 147-148 for log in opposite direction.] 

The old road across La Posa Plain is preferred to the new county road by some people 
but is not recommended to strangers. (See p. 147.) Several faint roads which lead 
to the old road fork to the northwest off the county road in the southern part of La 
Posa Plain. None is now very distinct. The most distinct at the time of visit was 
that at which a Geological Survey sign was erected, so the log will be given from this 
point. From Dome to these crossroads use log of main road (pp. 148-149). 

59.7 Crossroads on county road across La Posa Plain. Geological Survey sign. For 

old road turn to left. 

61.7 Road comes in on left from Cibola. Continue north. 

67.6 Fork. Road on right goes to Kuhn’s windmill (0.6 mile). Water obtainable 
when windmill is pumping; was sucking air when visited in November, 1917. 
There is a wash which it may be difficult to cross on the windmill road just 
before reaching windmill. From fork continue north to abandoned well. 

69.2 Well, abandoned. No facilities but could get water with a rope in emergency. 

Continue to reverse fork. 

69.5 Continue north to reverse fork. Road coming in on right is new road across 

La Posa Plain from Dome. 

70.2 From fork continue north to Quartzsite. 

73.1 Quartzsite post office. 

HARQTJAHALA ROUTE. 

SALOME TO PALOMAS BY WAY OP HARQTJAHALA (65 MILES). 

[See p. 151 for log in opposite direction.] 

0.0 Salome depot (Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway). Go west to railroad 
crossing. 

0.3 Cross railroad. Take road going due south (straight ahead). Good desert road. 
Geological Survey sign here indicates the proper road. Continue past Mes¬ 
quite Well (0.8 mile), avoiding faint branch roads. Good water at Mesquite 
Well when windmill is pumping. Pool is dirty. 

4.2 Enter Little Harquahala Mountains. Follow main road to Harquahala mine 
office and post office, avoiding faint roads and trails leading off into mountains. 
Good mountain road, excellent when in repair. 

9.0 Harquahala mine office and post office. Water but no supplies. Go past 
post office down valley, emerging from mountains at mile 10.3. It is not 
necessary to ascend hill to post office if not desired. Several roads lead 
through old town at base. Continue east of south across Harquahala Plain. 
Old road here too deeply worn in places to be used. Follow more recent 
tracks alongside of it or make new one. No difficulty is likely to be experi¬ 
enced in doing this. 

20.4 Cross end of Eagle Tail Mountains through low pass. Cross valley to edge of 
hills. 

28.9 Pass through gap in hills along wash. Road is in bed of wash for greater part 

of a mile; heavy going. Dead Man’s Tank or Road Tank in this wash unre¬ 
liable; dry when visited. 

30.9 Emerge from hills and go southeast on good desert road to fork. 

39.2 Turn south (right). Road on east (left) goes to Clantons Well (0.6 mile), water, 

and then continues to Arlington (little used). The faint road on northwest 
goes to a mining camp. Go through gap in hills. Continue south on good 
plains road. 

62.6 Road to east (left) goes to Agua Caliente (mile 12.3) and Phoenix (mile 110.4). 

(See mile 88.1 of log on p. 130.) Continue straight ahead on fair to poor 
river-bottom road. 


ROAD LOGS. 


151 


65.3 Palomas. Water. From Palomas a road leads southwest to Yuma and 

another south to Aztec on the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

PALOMAS TO SALOME BY WAY OF HARQTJ AH ALA (65 MILES). 

[See pp. 150-151 for log in opposite direction.] 

0.0 Palomas post office. Go north on main Phoenix-Yuma road. About a mile 
from post office avoid tracks leading east (right). There is a Geological 
Survey sign here. Continue north over a rather poor road. 

2.7 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Go straight ahead. Road on right goes to 
Agua Caliente (12.3 miles) and Phoenix (110.4 miles) from this point. (See 
mile 88.1 of log on p. 130.) Take road straight ahead for Harquahala and 
Salome. Good plains road. 

25.0 Pass through gap in hills. 

26.1 Fork. Geological Survey sign. Road on right across wash goes to Clantons 

Well, half a mile distant. Water. Thence the road continues to Arlington, 
but it is little used. Road nearly straight ahead goes to mining camp. To 
continue to Harquahala take left-hand road. It is a good plains road but is 
faint in some places. 

34.4 Gap in hills on right of steep-sided butte. Pass through gap along wash. Road 

is in bed of wash for nearly a mile and is somewhat difficult for automobiles. 
Dead Mans Tank, or Road Tank, is in this wash but is unreliable as a 
watering place. Continue on good plains road toward west end of Eagle 
Tail Mountains. 

44.9 Low pass across end'of Eagle Tail Mountains. Go through the gap, then straight 
across the desert toward the Little Harquahala Mountains. The road here 
is too deeply worn in places to be used. Follow more recent tracks along 
side of it or make new tracks. The desert surface makes good natural road. 
55.0 Enter little Harquahala Mountains along wash. 

56. 3 Harquahala mine office, post office, and water, but no other supplies. It is 
possible to continue to Salome without going quite to post office. From the 
post office go north downhil 1 and continue down the valley. The road from 
Harquahala to Salome is good; excellent when in repair. 

61.1 Road leaves mountains. 

64. 5 Mesquite Well. If windmill is pumping good water is available; that in 

pond is dirty. Avoid faint branch roads and trails which lead off the main 
road at several points. 

65.0 Railroad crossing. Geological Survey sign. Cross the railroad. 

65. 3 Salome depot. Water, gasoline, supplies, hotel, and post office 

ROUTES TO ALAMO SPRING. 

It is probably not possible to reach Alamo Spring by automobile, but several roads 
extend close to it. The old road, still in fairly good condition, through Middle Well 
and Deep Well to Kofa can be easily traveled by automobile. From Kofa there are 
trails across the S. H. Mountains to Alamo Spring. 

Another route is from Quartzsite through New Water Pass to Alamo Spring. Auto¬ 
mobiles can reach New Water Pass where there is a water supply. Prospectors fre¬ 
quently make their headquarters here and travel east toward Alamo Spring with 
burros. Several trails are reported. 

Cattlemen enter the Alamo Spring country from the east by taking the new road 
from Arlington through Gila Bend Mountains to a fork 20.1 miles from Arlington. 
Here they take the right-hand road to Clantons Well, a distance of roughly 20 miles. 
From Clantons Well they have made a road for about 28 miles farther to Hoodoo Wells. 
These wells are not very far from Alamo Spring. 


152 


LOWER, GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Another possible route extends across the Ranegras Plains from Vicksburg in 
a direction a little east of south. There is reported to be no well-defined road, 
but several trails lead in this general direction. No automobile is known to 
have gone the whole distance, roughly 30 miles, from Vicksburg to Alamo 
Spring, but certainly most of the trip could be made in a car and possibly all 
of it. With animals this route presents no difficulties except the lack of 
water. 

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 

In the following pages most of the routes for which logs are given 
above are described in greater detail. A cross reference to the log is 
given at the head of each description. 

PHOENIX TO YUMA. 

[For log see pp. 126-132, and for data on numerous recent changes see pp. 229-230.] 

Phoenix .—Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and the county seat of Maricopa 
County. In 1910 its population was 11,134; in 1920, 29,053. It is a progressive 
and prosperous city, the commercial center of the rich Salt River valley. 
Almost all the important roads in Arizona pass through Phoenix, as do all the 
so-called national highways that cross the State except the one that passes 
through Holbrook, Flagstaff, and Kingman, farther north. 

Phoenix was founded in 1868.” In 1871 it had a population of 75, of whom 
1 was a woman. In 1877 about 500 people lived there, half of them Mexicans. 
In 1871 the county of Maricopa was established. In 1879 the Southern 
Pacific Railroad, which was being built eastward, reached Maricopa, and this 
greatly increased the amount of freight passing through Phoenix. In the early 
days the town, in common with all its contemporaries, was rough and crimes 
were frequent. In 1879 vigilantes were organized, and the town reformed. On 
July 4, 1887, the Maricopa & Phoenix Railway was completed, giving Phoenix 
railroad connection with the transcontinental line of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad. In 1889 the town, now grown to a small city, was made the Terri¬ 
torial capital, and in 1912 it became the State capital. March 12, 1895, the 
line of the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad reached the city, furnishing 
connection with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at Ash Fork. The 
Arizona Eastern Railroad has branches extending both east and west of the 
city. 

Salt River project .—The prosperous farms that cover the Salt River valley 
in the neighborhood of Phoenix present a striking and pleasing contrast to 
the dry and desolate desert and the mountain country which surround this 
area. Almost all of this farming country is supplied with the essential irri¬ 
gating water by the Salt River project of the United States Reclamation 
Service. 78 Reconnaissance work on this project was started in 1902. The 
Roosevelt dam was completed February 5, 1911, and the whole project was 
completed June 30, 1917. The Service is prepared to furnish a permanent 
supply of water to 192,077 acres, and during periods in which the reservoir 
is full it can give a temporary supply to an additional 20,889 acres. In 1917 
815.5 miles of canals were in operation. The gross cost of constructing the 
project was $14,440,874.47. The value of the irrigated crops in the season 
of 1916 was $8,435,719, that for 1918 was $18,188,800, and that for 1919 


77 Report of the governor of Arizona, 1899, pp. 192-196. 

78 U. S. Reclamation Service Sixteenth Ann. Rept., pp. 45-59, 1917. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


153 


was $23,768,682, according to the reports of the Reclamation Service. Many 
kinds of crops can be raised here, including alfalfa, barley, cotton (mostly 
long staple), corn, fodder crops, wheat, olives, and numerous other varieties 
of fruit. The very profitable crop long-staple cotton can not be raised suc¬ 
cessfully anywhere in the United States except in the arid regions of the 
Southwest, where it thrives. The area planted in cotton, mostly long staple, in 
1917 under this project was about 25,000 acres. 

The following quotation from the report of the Reclamation Service cited 
above will give a good idea of the general features of this project: 

The irrigation plant of the Salt River project provides for the storage of 
water in the reservoir created by the building of the Roosevelt dam, which is 
situated at the confluence of Tonto Creek and Salt River, about 70 miles 
northeast of Phoenix, Ariz. This stored water is carried down Salt River to a 
point about 4 miles below the mouth of the Verde River, where together with 
such water as may be discharged by the Verde it is diverted to the North and 
South Side canal systems by the Granite Reef diversion dam. The water 
supply for the canals on the north side of the river is further augmented by 
the water diverted by the Joint Head diversion dam. 

There have been completed and put into operation nine pumping plants 
with an approximate capacity each of 10 second-feet. A pumping plant located 
at the junction of the Western canal and the Kyrene branch pumps water 
through a 54-inch pressure pipe 5,930 feet long to an elevation of 40 feet and 
waters approximately 7,500 acres of land. The United States claims all waste, 
seepage, unappropriated springs, and percolating water arising within the 
project and proposes to use such water in connection therewith. 

The canal and lateral system at present comprises 815.5 miles and on com¬ 
pletion of the project provides for the delivery of water to each 160-acre traet 
of irrigable land. 

A power plant located at Roosevelt generates power from stored water in 
the reservoir and from water delivered from the power canal, heading at a 
diversion dam in Salt River 19 miles above the storage dam. Three other 
power plants have been constructed by the water users’ association and 
have become a part of the project, viz, the South Consolidated, the Arizona 
Falls, and the Cross Cut. A portion of the power developed will be used for 
pumping water for irrigation and the remainder for industrial purposes. 

The principal features are the intake dam and power canal, the Roosevelt 
dam, Granite Reef dam, Joint Head dam, the main canals of the distributing 
system and the greater part of the lateral system, and the power system, com¬ 
prising four power plants, transformer house, transmission lines, switching 
station, and four substations. Some work remains to be done on the sluicing 
tunnel through the Roosevelt dam, and rather extensive repairs are now needed 
on the intake dam and Granite Reef dam. 

The maximum observed output during the year was 12,900 kilowatts. The 
gross income from the sale of power for the year was $491,812.51. 

Phoenix to Coldwater .—For the first 30 miles out of Phoenix the route usually 
followed is the “ Buckeye road.” From Phoenix to Cashion this is a graded 
dirt road, usually kept in fairly good condition. It passes through a prosperous 
farming country, part of the Salt River project. Cotton is the principal 
crop grown, but several stock farms are passed. Plate XV, B, shows a typical 
field of long-staple cotton. 

At Cashion, a siding and station on the Arizona Eastern Railroad, Buckeye 
Line, there is a store at which gasoline, oil, and some general supplies can be 
purchased; also a meat market, an eating house, and a garage. Water is 
piped here from the Cashion ranch; it is likely to be warm, tastes of the pipe, 
and is somewhat mineralized. 

From Cashion the dirt road continues straight west for li miles, swings to 
the right across the railroad, then to the left on a concrete roadway across 
the eastern channel of Agua Fria River. This is the eastern approach of a 
bridae that is to be built across the river. The work of bridging the river was 


154 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


not complete in 1917 and it was necessary to ford the western channel of the 
stream. This is seldom difficult unless the river is in flood. At Coldwater, on 
the west bank of the Agua Fria, is a store at which gasoline, oil, groceries, 
and some other supplies can be purchased, and a well yielding excellent water. 

To the northwest are the White Tank Mountains, a striking range rising 
abruptly from the plain to a maximum altitude of about 5,000 feet. Their 
bold fronts and rather steep slopes are carved from coarse-grained massive 
granite, cut by small dikes of pegmatite, diabase, and other igneous rocks. 
A few of the peaks are capped with lava. 

To the south, beyond Gila River, is the Sierra Estrella, with altitudes of 
4,000 feet and over. These mountains are composed principally of somewhat 
gneissoid granite of pre-Cambrian age but also contain Mesozoic intrusives. 79 

The Southwest Cotton Co., a subsidiary of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 
owns about 14,000 acres in Tps. 1 and 2 N., Rs. 1 and 2 W., of which 1,700 
acres was planted in cotton in 1916. This company has a number of wells 
which it was testing for use in irrigating its land and expected to put down 
others. Data on these wells are given in the tables on pages 86-88. 

Coldwater to Buckeye .—At Coldwater the railroad swings southwest but the 
road continues west. The scattered houses of Avondale are passed on the south 
and the land of the Southwest Cotton Co. on the north. The road from Cold- 
water west for 9 miles is on soft silt. The traffic is often heavy, and conse¬ 
quently the road usually has stretches of almost continuous chuck holes. 
About 2£ miles out of Liberty the country irrigated by the Buckeye canal is 

entered, and the character of the road improves because the loamy soil makes 

\ 

better road material. 

Liberty is a pleasant farming village. The population was 150 in 1910 and 
425 in 1920. It has a store and post office at which gasoline, oil, groceries, and 
supplies can be bought and good water obtained. A mile east of the store is 
an attractive-looking school building, and the village contains two churches. 

West of Liberty the road, which is usually in rather good condition, passes for 
nearly 4 miles through alkali land, where little agriculture is possible. From 
the far edge of the alkali land the road to Buckeye goes through a prosperous- 
looking farming district. 

Buckeye had a population of 875 in 1910 and 726 in 1920. It had in 1918 a 
post office, ice plant, moving-picture house, school, telephone exchange, garage 
at which repairs could be obtained, and several stores, including a meat market. 
Several wells furnish excellent water. About three-quarters of a mile south of 
the town is a hotel where meals and lodging may be had. Buckeye is the center 
of the irrigation project of the same name. The Buckeye canal, which is over 
20 miles long, heads on the north bank of the Gila near the mouth of Agua 
Fria River. It was reported in 1917 to be irrigating more than 19,000 acres. 
Among the crops grown are cotton, alfalfa, millo maize, and corn. 

South of Gila River, opposite Buckeye, a new project has recently been 
started by the Gila Water & Land Co. in the district served by the old Joshlin 
ditch. Water is obtained by pumping from Gila River. The plant was installed 
in 1916 but was damaged by floods. For this and other reasons irrigation on 
a commercial scale did not begin until March, 1917. At the time of visit 
(October, 1917) cotton, wheat, millo maize, corn, and alfalfa were being suc¬ 
cessfully raised. 

The Buckeye Hills are south of and partly encircle the farms irrigated by 
this project. They are composed principally of granite but appear to contain 
also a small amount of schist. Powers Butte, an outlier of these hills, near 


79 Schrader, P. C., unpublished report. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


155 


Arlington, consists of much younger rock, mostly flat-lying beds of lava, prob¬ 
ably of Tertiary age. Tertiary rocks, both lava and sedimentary, are also found 
at the Gillespie dam, at the west end of the Buckeye Hills. 

Buckeye to Gila Bend .—A quarter of a mile west of the main street of 
Buckeye is a road running south across Gila River to Gila Bend, a dis¬ 
tance of about 35 miles. It is reported that a large proportion of the travelers 
from Phoenix to Yuma in recent years use this road to Gila Bend and follow 
the Southern Pacific Railroad to Yuma. From the fork the route is south to 
Gila River on a fairly good section-line road. The bed of Gila River is here 
about a mile wide. In 1918 difficulty in crossing the river at this point was 
to be expected, but the increased traffic since then has probably resulted in 
improvement of the road. Beyond the river the road passes irrigated farms 
and crosses the Buckeye Hills, where it is rough but has easy grades. Thence 
it extends southwest and south to Gila Bend. There are no steep grades and 
few places where doubt as to the correct road might arise. 

Buckeye to the Gila Bend Mountains .—From the fork near Buckeye the main 
road on the north side of the river continues west past irrigated farms, most of 
which have wells, to Palo Verde. It is a good dirt road, generally kept in fair 
repair. 

Palo Verde is a farming community with a population in 1920 of 325. In 
1918 it contained three stores, a post office, a blacksmith shop, and a large, 
attractive schoolhouse. Gasoline, oil, tires, groceries, and supplies can be 
bought. Good water can be obtained from the schoolhouse well and from sev¬ 
eral others west and north of the town. 

From Palo Verde the dirt road continues west across Hassayampa River, 
whose sandy bed has but little water in it at most seasons. Frequently a 
small amount of waste water from the Buckeye canal, which ends at the 
river somewhat over a mile north of the road, is present at the crossing. 
There is rarely any difficulty in crossing the river except when it is in flood. 

A short distance beyond the Hassayampa the road forks, and this fork is 
marked by a group of signs, including a Geological Survey sign. One road 
that continues west around the north side of a small basalt hill and is known 
as the Parker cut-off offers an alternate route to Los Angeles by way of 
Parker or Ehrenberg. The other road, which is the Yuma route, turns abruptly 
south and skirts the east and south sides of a basaltic lava flow to Arlington. 
Ancient pictographs can be seen at several places on the low cliff that forms 
the southeast end of the lava flow. A number of specimens of the basalt with 
the Indian writing on them have been rempved, so that now only the poorer 
examples remain. The road around the base of this cliff is on soft silt and 
is consequently very difficult to keep in good repair. Not infrequently por¬ 
tions of it are flooded by the Arlington canal, which flows along the east side 
of the road and crosses it through a concrete culvert just before the road 
bends west. Arlington precinct had in 1910 a population of 75; in 1920 this 
had increased to 299. The houses are scattered over a considerable area, 
mostly south and west of the store. Irrigation is carried on, the water being 
obtained from Gila River by means of the Arlington canal. The home camp 
of the Flower Pot Cattle Co. is at Arlington. The green-roofed bungalows of 
two of the partners in this company are on the Yuma road just west of the 
store and post office. At this store gasoline, oil, and general supplies can be 
purchased. 

From the Arlington store either the road going south and then west or that 
going west and then south can be used by the traveler bound for Yuma. The 
latter is usually somewhat preferable. These roads come together about 2 
miles from Arlington. The distance on each is approximately the same. 


156 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


The Gila Bend Mountains, one of the largest ranges in this part of Arizona, 
lie between Arlington and Agua Caliente, the next settlement on the road to 
Yuma. There are two roads across them known as the old and new roads. 
The new road is at present much more generally used by automobilists than 
the old one. For this reason and because drinkable water is to be had at some¬ 
what shorter intervals, the new road is slightly the safer of the two. This 
road is, however, about 3 miles longer and has steeper grades than the old 
one. Consequently, parties traveling with stock often take the old road. 

New road across the Gila Bend Mountains .—From the crossroads 2 miles 
southwest of Arlington, where the new road starts, it runs over the desert 
to the mountains, going through a portion of the extensive mesquite thickets 
that mark the course of Centennial Wash. During the greater part of the 
year this road is good, but it becomes somewhat cut up if there is much travel 
over it during a protracted spell of dry weather. In the thickets of Centennial 
Wash there is a road fork marked by a Geological Survey sign. The road to 
the northwest leads past the Red Water Well of the Flower Pot Cattle Co. 
to a junction with the old road through Eagletail Valley that was used by 
freight teams between Harquahala and Phoenix before the railroad came. 
This road passes within short distances of three other wells, also belonging 
to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., which is the largest stock raiser in this section 
of the State. 

On reaching the border of the Gila Bend Mountains the new road passes the 
Surprise windmill belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co. From this point it 
winds across a hummocky plain dotted with lava hills, passing the Dixie 
mine, which is worked intermittently for copper. There is a well on the west 
bank of the wash just west of the mine buildings and a few yards north of the 
road. When the miners are there it is cared for, and at such times excellent 
water can be obtained from it. In spite of the trap door that covers the well 
it seems to be possible for animals, such as rabbits and rats, to find an en¬ 
trance. When they do they drown. If no one is living at the mine to clean the 
well out, the bodies of these unfortunate animals remain in the well and render 
the water unfit to drink. 

At Fourth of July Butte, a small but steep-sided and prominent butte of lava, 
the road turns south and leads down a rather steep declivity which should be 
descended with some caution. The big wash just beyond this is Fourth of July 
Wash, where water is reported to be obtainable at most seasons by digging in 
the sand 200 to 300 yards downstream from the road. The road continues, 
skirting the north side of Yellow ‘Medicine Butte and passing Willow Tanks 
and Yellow Medicine Tank (PI. XVI, B). On this stretch of the road there 
are many curves and sharp pitches, but on the whole the road is good. None 
of the washes crossed are likely to give any particular trouble. 

Just beyond Yellow Medicine Tank is the beginning of a 3-mile stretch of 
good graded road, built by the State in the winter of 1917. It was planned to 
construct a State highway between Yuma and Phoenix by way of Antelope 
Bridge, of which this stretch and the three or four other pieces of graded road 
between this place and Yuma were to be parts. The portion of the road built 
in the Gila Bend Mountains is a good example of highway engineering in a 
mountainous country and gives promise that when the projected highway is 
completed it will provide what is now sorely needed—a good all-year road 
between the State capital and Yuma. This stretch crosses a spur of the granite 
mountains that may be considered to form the backbone of the Gila Bend 
Mountains. The road abounds in curves, and the grades are necessarily steep, 
but a car in good condition will have no difficulty in climbing them. 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


157 


At the west end of the graded road is Loudermilk Wash, which should be 
approached with some caution, because of the sharp turn in the road. A short 
distance beyond this wash is a fork leading to State Well. West of the fork 
the road has a number of curves and several sharp pitches. Some of the pitches 
might possibly give trouble to a car that was heavily loaded or a poor hill 
climber. Near the point where the road emerges from the mountain is a wide 
wash that might give a little trouble. Somewhat more difficulty is likely to be 
experienced in' crossing these mountains on the eastbound trip than on the 
westbound trip, but in either direction a reasonably good car will get through 
safely. 

After leaving the mountains the road leads south across the desert, heading 
■directly for the black lava hills north of Agua Caliente. The road skirts these 
hills on the east and south to Agua Caliente. 

Old road across the Gila Bend Mountains .—The old road across the Gila 
Bend Mountains is still used to a considerable extent. The distance between 
Arlington and Agua Caliente is 3 miles shorter by this road than by the new 
one, and there are fewer curves and steep grades. Many old settlers prefer It 
to the new road, largely because they are accustomed to using it. Travelers 
with stock or on foot often use it on account of the shorter distance. Many 
foot travelers prefer the new road, however, because it is better supplied with 
watering places and is more traveled, so that the chance of being picked up is 
greater. The long stretches of sand and silt along Gila River and several 
rather troublesome washes that have to be crossed make the old road less 
desirable than the new one for automobile travel. 

In the first 4^ miles out of Arlington the road passes through irrigated 
country, which has already been described (p. 69). Then it enters the desert 
and goes through the mesquite thickets that mark the course of Centennial 
Wash. (See p. 41.) The desert floor here is composed of fine silt, with some 
sand. Usually the road across this area is in good shape, but after a pro¬ 
longed spell of dry weather it may become cut up, especially if there has been 
much traffic. Beyond Centennial Wash the road improves. Near the border 
of the mountains the road to the Webb mine (Arizona Gold Hill Mining Co.) 
forks to the left, and a little farther on the mine buildings can be seen on a 
hillside about a mile south of the road. Just beyond this point wagon tracks 
lead to the right. These go to the Van Hagen windmill, one of the cattle¬ 
watering places of the Flower Pot Cattle Co. The windmill itself may be seen 
flashing in the sun about three-tenths of a mile to the north. The supply of 
water from this well is intermittent and never very large. Webb Well, less 
than a mile farther on and only 150 yards off the road, furnishes much better 
drinking water. The water from this well is used to operate a test mill 
treating gold ore from the Webb mine. The well, is not a public watering place, 
but water could be obtained here if a traveler were in need, though the privi¬ 
lege should not be abused. 

From Webb Well the road follows a gradually narrowing valley in the 
mountains to Woolsey Tank. It runs for the most part over bedrock, in some 
places thinly covered with alluvium, and is a good mountain road with no bad 
grades, curves, or washes. 

The portion of the Gila Bend Mountains traversed by the old road has a 
somewhat less varied topography than that crossed by the new one, but it is, 
perhaps, rather more picturesque. The mountains near the road are all carved 
from Tertiary rocks, mostly lavas. Faulting has been more pronounced and 
on a larger scale here than farther north. The strata of lava and associated 
sedimentary rocks, horizontal or nearly so when originally laid down, have 
been broken and the fragments moved about by the mountain-building forces 


158 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


until they now dip at various angles and in several directions. The erosion 
of these rocks, heterogeneously arranged and varying greatly in hardness, has 
led to the development of fantastic forms. Sheer cliffs and castellated pin¬ 
nacles alternate with smooth rounded hills. Vivid reds and ochers contrast 
with somber browns and blacks. Woolsey Peak rears its dark head in dignified 
majesty on the southeast. 

Roads branch from the main road both east and west of Woolsey Tank to ac¬ 
commodate travelers from either direction and lead to the camping ground on 
the north side of the wash. So many persons have camped here that dry wood 
for fires is scarce, but water may be obtained at the tank, in the wash just 
to the south. This tank is one of the oldest known watering places in these 
mountains, having been discovered about 1873 by the doughty old pioneer 
Captain Woolsey. It is a natural rock tank, filled with sand. Water remains 
in it all the year round. (See PI. XVII, B.) The presence of the sand does 
much to protect the water from evaporation and makes it possible for a tank 
that is much used by stock and is only about 10 feet in diameter to retain 
water through even an unusually long dry season. The water, being entirely 
unprotected from contamination, is not fit for human consumption. In Febru¬ 
ary, 1917, the Flower Pot Cattle Co. started to sink a shaft in an attempt to 
follow indications of gold ore at one side of a smaller wash which here joins 
the wash containing the tank. This shaft after being sunk to a depth of about 
10 feet filled with water so rapidly that work on it had to be stopped. It is 
now used as a well from which travelers can obtain drinking water that is 
usually clean and good. (See p. 229.) Some further work on this prospect, 
which its owners call the Perhaps mine, was done in the early part of 1918. 
Should development continue it may cease to be a watering place. 

The geology of Woolsey Tank and its vicinity is somewhat complex in de¬ 
tail. The south bank of the wash near the tank is composed of gray jointed 
basalt capped by coarse, poorly consolidated conglomerate. The conglomerate 
is of Pleistocene or late Tertiary age. Whether this particular mass of basalt 
is intrusive or extrusive the writer could not determine. Similar rock occurs 
in the neighborhood, both as surface flows and as intrusive bodies of various 
sizes and shapes. It was eroded after its consolidation, and the conglomerate 
was laid down by stream action on its eroded surface. Afterward uplift took 
place, and the conglomerate was tilted gently to the northwest here and else¬ 
where in the vicinity. 

In the bank of the wash near the Perhaps mine shaft conditions are some¬ 
what different. The basalt is absent, and in its place is some rhyolitic lava. 
Lying on this is a mass of thin-bedded red sandstone composed of fragments of 
the lava. This sandstone dips at an angle of 15° W. and probably underlies 
the basalt and forms the basin, of Woolsey Tank. On the irregular eroded sur¬ 
face of this tilted sandstone is conglomerate, coarser than that resting on the 
basalt but very similar and undoubtedly a part of the same formation. Up. 
the main wash south of the tank and well the rocks exposed in the east bank 
are arranged in heterogeneous fashion. Basalt in irregular masses and dikes 
cuts in various directions through a red conglomerate whose pebbles are sub- 
angular and range in diameter from a quarter of an inch to 3 feet. 

A short distance beyond Woolsey Tank a fork is reached. The right-hand 
road goes over a little hill on a fairly steep grade; the left-hand road goes 
along the bed of the wash, where the loose gravel gives rather poor traction, 
and rejoins the right fork about a quarter of a mile farther west. The road 
from this point to the border of the mountains has no bad grades or curves 
but runs for 2 miles in the gravel bed of a wash. If the gravel in the ruts has- 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


159 


not been well packed by the recent passage of vehicles or if the automobile is 
heavily loaded trouble may be experienced in this portion of the road. Many 
cars pass over it, however, without any difficulty. Some interesting bits of 
geologic history can be read in the exposures in the banks of this wash, if the 
traveler has the time to study them. 

At the border of the mountains the road leaves the bed of the wash but 
follows closely beside it and crosses it several times before both road and 
wash reach the flood plain of Gila River, 5$ miles from the mountains. The 
road runs between the terraces bordering the wash for all of this distance. 
It extends along the river flood plain to a point within about 2 miles of the high 
basalt buttes that stretch from the main mass of the Gila Bend Mountains 
to the river. The sand and soft silt of the flood plain make very poor 
road material. In dry weather chuck holes and high centers are abundant, 
and in wet weather mud makes this portion of the road almost or quite 
Impassable. Ordinarily, however, travel over it presents no really serious 
difficulties. 

About 2 miles from the buttes the road leaves the flood plain for a distance 
and passes over the gravel of the valley fill, which makes a much better 
road material. One of the washes crossed in this portion of the road might 
possibly give a little trouble. On reaching the buttes the road descends 
perforce to the flood plain and skirts the buttes. This part is a fair valley 
road. At one point an old irrigation ditch is crossed by a bridge made 
of poles, which in the early part of 1918 was in a very poor condition. If 
this bridge has not been repaired, passage over the ditch will be difficult. 
After rounding the end of the high buttes the road goes up a rather steep and 
rough ascent to the surface of a low lava mesa and runs over this for 3 miles. 
Thence it makes a more gentle descent to the valley floor. From this point 
to Agua Caliente the road, though rough and dusty in dry weather and 
muddy in wet weather, presents no particular difficulties, with the possible 
exception of one wash somewhat less than 4 miles from Agua Caliente, 
which might give trouble to an eastbound automobile. The road turns rather 
abruptly in the bottom of the wash, and the east bank is steep and sandy. 
With good driving, however, the average car will have no difficulty. 

Industries in the valley of Oila River along old road .—At the present time 
there is little activity in this portion of the Gila Valley. Some cattle range 
over it, and a cattlemen’s camp has been set up near the river. One enterpris¬ 
ing man has established an apiary in this vicinity but does not live with his 
bees. (For the location of the camp and apiary see the log, p. 129, also PI. 
IV.) On the south side of the river, opposite the big lava buttes, J. W. Jordan 
has a small ranch, on which the principal crop is alfalfa. This ranch is on 
the adobe fiats deposited by the river at a point where the lava walls that 
here line the river on both sides recede somewhat. The ranch house is a very 
substantial structure of adobe, originally used as a station on the stage line 
which ran along that bank of the river from Yuma to Gila Bend and thence 
across the desert to Tucson. It was then called Oatman’s Flat station. The 
flat on which it stands was named in memory of the Oatman family, who were 
attacked by Apaches here in the days of emigration to California. Most of 
the party were killed, and two young girls were carried into captivity. 80 

The remains of a pumping plant, irrigating ditches, and plowed land passed 
by the road on the north side of the river near the buttes mark the place where 
there was an unsuccessful attempt to irrigate the land. At and near Agua 


80 Dellenbaugh, Frederick, The romance of the Gila River, p. 45, 1909. 



160 LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

Caliente several small ranches have been started and irrigation is carried; 
on in a small way. 

At Point of Rocks, just west of Oatman Flat, the lava walls come close 
together and the river flows through a comparatively narrow passage between 
them. Some irrigation from canals with a headgate at this place has been 
attempted, and several unsuccessful attempts to build diversion dams have 
been made. The first work was undertaken about 30 years ago. Nothing is 
being done here now, nor does there appear to be any immediate prospect of 
the renewal of activity. (See p. 100.) 

Agua Caliente to Palomas .—Between Agua Caliente and Palomas there are 
at present two possible routes. The new road, often referred to locally as the 
“ Mesa road,” follows the western border of the lava hills north of Agua 
Caliente nearly to their northwestern extremity, then crosses the desert to 
Palomas. The desert floor here is a mixture of gravel and silt. When the 
road was new it was good, because the cars did not break through the com¬ 
paratively hard crust, but under continued use this crust gave way. In the 
early part of 1918, after a long-continued period of drought, there were many 
rough stretches, full of chuck holes and very dusty. The last 2.7 miles before 
reaching Palomas lie in the flood plain of Gila River. Here the road after a 
long dry spell is a succession of chuck holes. If the car is very light, it may 
be possible to abandon the road altogether and to run on the unbroken surface 
of the plain. This surface is very easily broken, however, and an attempt 
to leave the beaten track is liable to end in failure. 

The old road, often called the “ River road,” is now seldom traveled, although 
still passable. It leads over soft flood-plain deposits, which have been much 
cut up during recent floods of Gila River. Consequently, the road not only 
has the numerous chuck holes and superabundant dust characteristic of valley 
roads but also has many curves and sharp pitches that are due to the necessity 
of crossing several steep-sided gullies of recent origin. 

Palomas is a small town composed of scattered adobe and wooden houses 
which in 1920 had a population of 46. A large proportion of the inhabitants 
are Mexicans. It was the center of the Palomas irrigation district, which at 
one time enjoyed considerable prosperity. (For a brief description of this 
project see p. 99.) Since the flood of 1905, which washed out the canal head¬ 
ing and did considerable other damage, very little farming has been done in 
this vicinity. Overflow irrigation is practiced on a small scale, and in recent 
years a little farming by means of water pumped from wells has been at¬ 
tempted. (See p. 216.) Several of the Mexican ranchers have herds of cattle. 

Palomas to Norton .—Between Palomas and Norton the route follows the 
river flats for the most part. No one road has become established for the 
whole distance. Travelers follow the particular route that happens to be in 
the best condition at the time. It is best to ask for advice as to just which 
route to follow. There are several ranches and homesteads along the way, 
and the traveler may get off the main road on a road leading to some one 
of these ranches. However, for the most part these branch roads are com¬ 
paratively little traveled and consequently can be distinguished from the main 
road. None of them will lead one very far astray, except the road 4 miles 
west of Palomas, which goes by way of Deep Well and Castle Dome to Dome, 
where it rejoins the road to Yuma. The fork where this, road branches off 
is marked by a United States Geological Survey sign, so that there should 
be no danger of taking it by mistake. The main road runs in general a little 
south of west with few pronounced turns, except the one just west of Texas 
Hill, an isolated lava hill about halfway between Palomas and Norton. 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


161 


The load by way of Deep Well was once the main road between Yuma and 
Palomas and is still preferred by some because it avoids the long stretches of 
bad road on the flood plain of Gila River. It is over 19 miles longer than the 
1 i\ er route, passes through the Castle Dome Mountains, where some of the 
grades are steep, and is not now kept in repair. The principal objections to 
the route at present are that very few people pass over it or live near it, so 
that if anything went wrong it would be hard to get assistance, and also no 
water is available for long stretches. From the fork mentioned above, 4 miles 
west of Palomas, the road leads across the dese.t past Middle Well and Deep 
Well to the Castle Dome Mountains, where it joins the road from Quartzsite to 
Dome. A United States Geological Survey sign here indicates the road to take. 
Middle Well and Deep Well are now caved and abandoned, and no water is 
available at either. These wells and also the Star Well, about 24 miles north 
of Deep Well, were sunk during the mining activity in the vicinity of Kofa, in 
the S. H. Mountains, to supply water to the King of Arizona and North Star 
mines. When the King of Arizona mine was shut down Middle Well was 
bought by Mr. Abel Figueroa to be used as a watering place for cattle. This 
well is now badly caved, and Mr. Figueroa intends to put down another in the 
near future, which is to be about 10 miles east of Middle Well and a number 
of miles off the present road. Some distance south of the point where the road 
reaches the Castle Dome Mountains there is said to be a series of natural rock 
tanks where good water can be obtained at all seasons. A road to these tanks 
branches from the main road between Deep Well and the mountains. 

From the point where the road from Palomas and Deep Well joins that from 
Quartzsite the route leads through the Castle Dome Mountains to the Castle 
Dome mine. The road is rather rough and has steep grades. McPherson and 
Ladder tanks are on this route 14 miles and half a mile, respectively, from the 
road. Water can usually be obtained from them, and also at the Castle Dome 
mine. From the mine there is a very good plains rOad to Gila River, opposite 
Dome, and the ford across the river usually presents little difficulty except in 
time of high water. (For a more detailed description of the portion of this 
route which lies on the Quartzsite-Dome road see pp. 188-190.) 

The King of Arizona, North Star, and other mines in the Kofa district are 
now shut down, but development work may be resumed on some of them. 
These mines were examined in 1914 by Edward L. Jones, jr., 81 and the follow¬ 
ing data are taken from his report. 

The King of Arizona deposit was discovered in 1896, and the mine was a 
continuous producer of gold and silver ore until the summer of 1910, when the- 
low grade of the ore did not permit profitable operation. The surface ore was 
extremely rich, much of it being worth $1 a pound. Ore of this grade was 
packed or hauled to a small cyanide mill at Mohawk, on Gila River, 45 miles 
away. A 225-ton mill was built at the mine in 1899 and was operated until 
the mine closed. The mine produced gold and silver bullion to the amount of 
$3,500,000, gold greatly predominating in value. 

The deposit at the North Star mine, 14 miles north of the King of Arizona, 
was discovered in 1906 by Felix Mayhew. Development work was started in 
1907 and continued to August, 1911, when the ore available was of too low 
grade to w r ork. A cyanide mill was built in 1908. The mine produced approxi¬ 
mately $1,100,000 in gold and silver, principally gold. The surface ore was 

81 Jones, E. L., jr., A reconnaissance in the Kofa Mountains, Ariz.; U. S. Geol. Survey 
Bull. 620, pp. 151-164, 1916. 




162 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


of exceptionally high grade. One streak of ore on the footwall is said to have 
been worth $6 to $20 a pound. Thousands of dollars’ worth of ore is said to 
have been stolen. Here, as in the King of Arizona mine, the gold tenor 
decreased rapidly with depth. 

The ore bodies in these two mines are in brecciated zones and veins in 
andesite of Tertiary age. The vein matter is brecciated andesite, usually silici- 
fied and accompanied by stringers of calcite and quartz. Manganese occurs 
in these deposits in brownish calcite or as stains in the vein matter. The 
gold is said to be free and very finely divided. The ore of the North Star 
differs from that of the King of Arizona in the absence of calcite and in the 
abundance of chalcedonic quartz and pyrite. (For a general account of the 
S. H. Mountains and of the mineral deposits in them see p. 187.) 

The Norton ranch and post office was a place of some importance when irri¬ 
gation was in progress along the river in this vicinity and later when the 
King of Arizona and other mines in the Kofa district were in operation. The 
old store building, a number of other buildings, and some substantial corrals 
remain, but no supplies of any kind are now kept at the store. There is a 
well from which somewhat salty but drinkable water can be obtained. In 
1920 Norton precinct had 38 inhabitants. 

Some farming is still carried on in this vicinity. Several small ranches lie 
east of the place, and some irrigation by means of water pumped from wells 
is being done on the desert north of it. The Hicks ranch, a mile west of 
Norton, and some others farther west show that this district has not been 
entirely abandoned. 

Norton to Antelope Bridge .—West of Norton the route continues to follow 
the river flood plain. Between Norton and Antelope Bridge is perhaps the 
roughest portion of the road. In dry weather it is simply a succession of 
chuck holes. In wet weather the mud makes travel over it very difficult and 
probably at times impossible. 

For the first few miles beyond Norton the scene is desolate in the extreme. 
Old fences, dry irrigation ditches, and cleared fields that still show the marks 
of the plow testify to much farming activity in the past. Since the disastrous 
flood of 1891 nearly all the settlers have left the district, and it is rapidly 
reverting to wilderness. Bare brown tracts of sun-baked silt alternate with 
tangled thickets of mesquite trees. These thickets are alive with small game 
that feed on the mesquite beans. Rabbits are everywhere, and in their season 
coveys of quail literally cover the ground along the roads. 

Like every other road that follows a river flood plain this one changes 
rapidly, and there are usually several alternate roads, but no difficulty is likely 
to be experienced in finding the way. The road from Norton leads a little 
south of west and then due west to a point miles north of Antelope Bridge, 
where it turns and leads due south to the bridge. 

Antelope Bridge across Gila River was completed in the fall of 1915. It 
is a concrete bridge built by the State of Arizona jointly with Yuma County 
at a cost of $55,000. This brige was a very important addition to the road 
between Yuma and Phoenix, as it provided a convenient and safe means of 
crossing the treacherous Gila except during an unusually high flood. It was, 
however, washed out in 1920. The residents of the vicinity are reported to 
maintain a ford in good condition here. (See p. 230.) The south approach to 
the bridge leads over bedrock at the base of Antelope Hill, an isolated hill about 
580 feet high, composed of gray arkose, a sandstone formed from granitic 
debris. The beds of arkose strike nearly due east and dip gently to the south. 
The rock is as a whole somewhat coarser grained near the base of the hill than 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 163 

farther up the slope. Probably this hill is a fault block, with a fault bound¬ 
ing the steep northern face. 

There is an adobe house and several corrals near the bridge, but they are 
now abandoned and dilapidated. A driven well is situated in the bushes west 
of the corrals, but it is now out of repair, and no water can be obtained from 
it. The abandoned Antelope canal had its headgate near this point. It runs 
by the side of the road in the direction of Wellton. 

Antelope Bridge to Wellton .—The road from the bridge to Wellton is some¬ 
what similar to that between the bridge and Norton. It has fewer chuck holes 
but more dust. Near Wellton several branch roads leading to ranches are 
passed. With the exercise of care and judgment there should be no difficulty 
in avoiding these and keeping on the main road. 

Wellton is a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad and the center of a 
small farming community. In 1920 the town had a population of 88. The 
Antelope canal, which was used in the past to irrigate land in this neighbor¬ 
hood with water from Gila River, is now abandoned, but several wells have 
been put down in recent years to obtain water for irrigation. (For data on 
some of the wells in this vicinity see p. 226.) 

Wellton to Dome .—There are at present two ways out of Wellton going west. 
One is an ungraded road along the railroad. The other is a graded but very 
soft section-line road starting at Gamble’s Hotel. These roads join a mile west 
of the town. (See p. 230.) The route continues along the valley bottom, no¬ 
where very far from the railroad but not running beside it for the first 9 miles. 
New branch roads have been made by the farmers who have recently arrived 
in the district, and others will doubtless be made in the future. With the 
railroad on one side and the river on the other, it is impossible to go very 
far out of the way even if one of the branch roads is taken by mistake. 
The road is somewhat similar to that between Palomas and Wellton but is 
on the average rather better; with fewer chuck holes and less dust. For the 
last 8 miles into Dome the road follows the railroad rather closely. This part 
is graded and in fairly good condition. 

Dome is a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Most of the houses 
are made of adobe and are occupied by Mexicans. This is the approximate site 
of Gila City, which was formerly a placer-gold camp of some importance. 
The placers in this vicinity are said to have been discovered by Colonel 
Snively in 1858.® 2 At one time over a thousand people are said to have been 
gathered here, 83 but the “ city ” had a life of only a few years, as the placers 
were not rich enough to be worked in a locality where water was scarce and 
transportation facilities poor. This city rose and fell before the coming of 
the railroad. A little placer mining is still carried on by Mexicans and 
Indians in the mountains in this vicinity, but the chances that enough placer 
gold will ever be found to make this district an important producer are small 
indeed. 

Dome to Yuma ,—From Dome to Blaisdell, a distance of 6.7 miles, there is a 
good graded road. At Blaisdell, a siding on the railroad, is a quarry from 
which the county obtains rock for building roads. Beyond Blaisdell no im¬ 
provement has yet been made on the road. It leads across the flood plain of 
Gila River, which is here very sandy, to Yuma. The route changes frequently 
with changing conditions. The road that appears to be most traveled should 
be followed, but in general it is advisable to keep as close as possible to the 
edge of the flood plain, often referred to as the “ mesa line.” 

* 82 Hinton, It. J., Handbook to Arizona, p. 154, 1878. 

83 Idem, p. 172. 

49417—23-12 





164 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


It is practically impossible to construct a permanent road across these 
shifting sands, but it was planned to build a road between Yuma and Blaisdell 
over the desert south of the flood plain, and according to recent information 
from the office of the State highway engineer this road has already been con¬ 
structed. 

Yuma is a wide-awake, flourishing town, with several hotels, numerous 
stores and ice plants, electric light and power, and gas for cooking and heat¬ 
ing. Its principal streets are paved with asphalt. A considerable force of 
troops is stationed there. The population according to the 1910 census was 
2,914, but it has increased with irrigation development and in 1920 was 4,237. 

Yuma is one of the older towns in Arizona. The first white man to visit 
its site was Father Eusebio Kino, a Spanish missionary, who made a trip down 
the Gila to its junction with Colorado River in 1700 and found an Indian 
rancheria there, which he named San Dionisio. 84 During the gold rush to 
California in 1848 and 1849 many emigrants crossed Colorado River on the 
ferry here. It has been estimated that 60,000 people crossed here before 
1851, but that figure is probably too high. Fort Yuma, on the California 
side of the river, was named in 1851. No permanent settlement appears to 
have been made on the Arizona side until the Gadsden Purchase in 1854 made 
the present site of Yuma United States territory. The town was called 
Colorado City, Arizona City, and finally Yuma. Its real growth dates from 
1864, the year when Yuma County was established. The county seat was 
moved from La Paz (a settlement, now abandoned, west of Quartzsite) to 
Yuma in 1871 and has remained there since. The first steamboat to come up 
the river was the Uncle Sam in 1852. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached 
Yuma from California in 1877 and Tucson in 1880. 

The reconnaissance work for the Yuma irrigation project of the United 
States Reclamation Service 85 was begun in 1902, and the first irrigation 
under this project was done in 1907. The Laguna dam was completed in 
March, 1909, the Colorado River siphon on June 29, 1912, and the entire 
project was 64 per cent completed on June 30, 1917. The irrigable area, when 
the project is complete, will be 110,000 acres, of which 73,000 acres could have 
been supplied with water during the season of 1916, and 29,483 acres was 
actually irrigated. The principal crops raised are long-staple cotton, alfalfa, 
millo maize, Kaffir corn, feterita, wheat, and barley. 

The following quotation from the report of the Reclamation Service will 
give a good idea of the irrigation plan: 

The irrigation plan of the Yuma project provides for the diversion of 
water from the Colorado River at the Laguna dam, 10 miles northeast 
of Yuma, Ariz., into a canal system heading on the California side, conveying 
water to the irrigable lands on that side of the river, including those in the 
Yuma Indian Reservation, crossing the river at Yuma through an inverted 
siphon, and serving lands in the Yuma Valley below the town of Yuma. 
The plan also provides for large pumping plants below Yuma on the east main 
canal for raising water to irrigate 40,000 acres of mesa land. The lands 
adjacent to the Colorado River are protected from overflow by means of 
levees. The United States claims all waste, seepage, unappropriated spring 
and percolating water arising within the project and proposes to use such 
water in connection therewith. The Laguna dam, 340 miles of canals and 
laterals, including 19 miles of drainage ditches, the Colorado River siphon, 930 
feet in length and 14 feet in diameter, and about 74 per cent of the levee system 
are completed. 


• 4 The historical facts here given are taken from Bancroft, H. H., A history of New 
Mexico and Arizona. 

M U. S. Reclamation Service Sixteenth Ann. Kept., pp. 60-68, 1917. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


165 


PHOENIX TO PARKER. 

[For logs see pp. 133-139.] 

There are various routes and combinations of routes from Phoenix to Parker. 
All of them are used to a greater or less extent by travelers from and to 
points in California. Each is referred to locally as the “ Parker cut-off.” 
From Phoenix the traveler may follow in a general way the line of the Santa 
Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway through Wickenburg, Wenden, and Bouse 
to Parker, or he may leave the railroad at Wenden and go to Parker by way 
of Cunningham Pass. Other routes lead through Buckeye Valley, past Winters 
Well, the Palo Verde mine, and Tolladay’s Well, through Harrisburg Valley, 
and thence either through Wenden and Cunningham Pass to Parker or through 
Salome and Bouse, along the railroad, to Parker. The choice depends on 
individual preference and on the condition of the roads. The route by way 
of Wickenburg is more than 15 miles longer than that by way of Buckeye 
and Winters Well, but in the early part of 1919, after a prolonged drought, 
many travelers were taking it to avoid the stretches of badly cut up road near 
Winters Well and on the Harquahala Plain. The Wickenburg road was not 
traveled by the writer, but logs are given on pages 139-142. After periods of 
heavy rains the road by way of Wenden and Cunningham Pass is reported to 
be better than that along the railroad through Bouse. Some prefer the road 
through Cunningham Pass at all seasons of the year, except immediately after 
heavy rains, when all these roads present difficulties. 

Some travelers from Arizona to California use the ferry over Colorado River 
at Ehrenberg instead of that at Parker. They follow one of the Parker cut¬ 
off routes in Arizona either to Vicksburg or to Bouse, both of which are 
stations on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, and thence go to 
Quartzsite and Ehrenberg. 

Hassayampa River to Palo Verde mine .—The route to Parker by way of 
Buckeye Valley is the same as the route between Phoenix and Yuma as far 
as the road fork just west of Hassayampa River, 43.7 miles from Phoenix and 
155.2 miles from Yuma. Only the part west of this fork is usually spoken of 
as the “ Parker cut-off.” At this fork there are several signs, including one 
put up by the United States Geological Survey. The road to Parker leads 
somewhat north of west; the road to Yuma turns south. The Parker road 
skirts the north side of a low basalt hill for a distance of 1.4 miles. This part 
of the road is rough and rocky. Near the north end of the hill a slightly used 
road branches off to the north. This and any other faint road that may be 
noted between this point and Winters Well, with one possible exception men¬ 
tioned below, are to be avoided. The road leading north from the end of the 
basalt hill is a part of the old route to the Vulture mine and Wickenburg. The 
road between the Vulture mine and Wickenburg is still in use, but the prac¬ 
ticability of the road from the mine south along Hassayampa River is 
doubtful. One automobile made the trip from Palo Verde to the Vulture mine 
in December, 1919. It is reported to have been, when in use, a good road for 
most of the distance, but the original road has been in part washed out by 
floods of Hassayampa River. 

At the point where the main road turns northwest, leaving the basalt hill, 
there is a road fork at which a Geological Survey sign indicates the main road. 
The other road continues west and is a part of an old route through Eagletail 
Valley to Harquahala that was used for freighting between Phoenix and the 
Harquahala mine before the railroad in the vicinity of the mine was built. 
After a long dry spell, when the main road between the fork and Winters Well 


166 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


is badly cut up, some travelers take this road west for 5 miles to the point 
where a road from Arlington crosses it. They then turn north on the cross¬ 
roads and follow it past a windmill to a point 5.6 miles farther on, where they 
return to the main road. The distance is increased about 41 miles by this de¬ 
tour, but the road is slightly better. 

The main road goes straight across the broad silt-covered valley west of 
Hassayampa River from the point where it leaves the basalt hill above men¬ 
tioned to Winters Well, passing in the last 10 miles along the northeast border 
of the Palo Verde Hills. Some large washes are crossed, but none of them 
present any difficulties. When not cut up by much travel this road is good, but 
automobiles soon wear deep ruts into the soft silt. Plate XIV, B, shows a 
typical piece of this road, from a photograph taken late in 1917 after a pro¬ 
longed period of drought, when there had been considerable travel over the 
road in the previous few months and the heavy ore-laden motor trucks from the 
old Mexican mine had cut deep ruts in it. In September, 1917, the same road 
was not in nearly as poor condition. 

At Winters Well there is a ranch house, with its accompanying outbuildings 
and corrals, and two wells with windmills, from which good water can be ob¬ 
tained. E. H. Winters has a number of wells for watering his cattle in the val¬ 
ley in the general vicinity of Winters Well. Data on these wells are given on 
pages 227-228. 

West of Winters Well a road branches off to the north and leads to the Old 
Mexican mine, and a little farther on there is a trail leading south. Any doubt 
as to which is the main road should be dispelled by the Geological Survey signs 
near these road forks. One of the signs is on a big palo verde tree on the bank 
of a wash just west of the ranch. This wash should be approached with some 
caution, not because there is any particular difficulty in crossing it but because 
from either direction the view of the road immediately beyond is obscured, and 
if two automobiles happened to meet here an accident might result. 

The road follows the north side of the Palo Verde Hills, turning almost due 
west until it reaches the Palo Verde mine. There are two roads leading to 
this mine, one for travelers in either direction. The United States Geological 
Survey sign is near the point where the western of these branch roads leaves 
the main road, but it is visible from the other fork also. 

Hassayampa Plain .—The open plain through which Hassayampa River flows, 
bounded on the north by the Vulture Mountains, on the east by the White 
Tank Mountains, on the south by the Palo Verde Hills, and on the west by 
the Bighorn Mountains, may be called the Hassayampa Plain. It is not 
merely the valley of Hassayampa River, for many, perhaps most, of the washes 
that cross it reach the Gila by courses that are independent of and generally 
parallel to that of the Hassayampa. 

The part of this plain west of the river is now utilized by E. H. Winters 
and the Flower Pot Cattle Co. as a cattle range. Mr. Winters has 11 wells 
scattered over this part of the plain, and the Flower Pot Co. has 5, mostly close 
to Hassayampa River. Data on these wells are given on pages 227-228. The 
soil appears to be good, and if an adequate source of irrigating water could 
be found, this part of the plain would doubtless become valuable farming 
land. At present there does not seem much likelihood of obtaining water in 
amounts sufficient to make the venture profitable. There was at one time 
a dam for the storage of water for irrigation in the canyon of Hassayampa 
River north of Wickenburg, but this was washed out in the flood of 1890, 
causing 70 deaths and considerable other damage. 86 


86 Montgomery, John, oral communication. 




DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


167 


An attempt was made some years ago to farm land on the east side of the 
river north of Palo Verde. The soil here also is probably suitable for irriga¬ 
tion, if water is available. It was planned to obtain irrigating water from 
wells. Some wells were sunk and a little water was found; irrigation was 
started, but the water at hand was insufficient, and for this and other reasons 
the attempt ended in failure. The settlers are reported to have come largely 
from the city of Los Angeles and to have been unaccustomed to life on the 
desert and not experienced in farming by irrigation. 

The Hassayampa is little more than a very large wash. It is dry much 
of the year except near Palo Verde, where it usually contains a little return 
water from the Buckeye canal. At the point where the road crosses it west 
of Palo Verde it has only one channel, but farther north there are several 
channels wandering over the surface of the flood plain between well-defined 
terraces. The terraces are 5 to 15 feet high and, where observed about 4 
miles upstream from the road crossing, are three-quarters of a mile apart. 

Vulture Mountains .—The mountains that can be seen in the distance to the 
north of the Parker cut-off road on the Hassayampa Plain are the Vulture 
Mountains. They extend from Hassayampa River near Wickenburg west¬ 
ward for more than 20 miles and come close to if they do not actually reach 
the northeast end of the Harquahala Mountains. As that part of the country 
was not visited during the present investigation not much information was 
obtained regarding the Vulture Mountains, the eastern and northern part of 
the Bighorn Mountains, and the northeast end of the Harquahala Mountains. 

The Vulture Mountains are probably made up largely of pre-Cambrian meta- 
morphic rocks, but some of the more recent volcanic rocks are also present. 
Blake 87 wrote an interesting account of the geology of a part of this range, 
which is given below : 

The vein at the Vulture is in ancient slates and gneissic rocks, probably more 
ancient than the slates at Cave Creek, From these outcrops we rise upon the 
undulating surface of low hills of volcanic origin or outflow, generally soft 
and amygdaloidal, of local extent, having been cut through by long erosion 
to the bed. In places the argillaceous slates pass into dark-colored hornblende 
slates, becoming compact, gneissic, and syenitic, and all much seamed and 
ribbed with dikes of feldspathic or granite rock, and with porphyritic dike* to 
the summit, about halfway, and thence upon granite to the Hassayampa. 
Passing up the Hassayampa above Grant’s store and the old Vulture mill, 
there is a bluff of comparatively modern lava, which flowed out over the 
terrace of river gravel and has protected it from washing away. From near 
this place the long regular slope extends upward to the base of the mountains, 
about 6 miles. It is covered with grasses and Cactacea, but very few or no 
trees nor shrubs of great size. The soil appears to be exceedingly rich and 
fertile whenever water is put upon it and to be composed largely of volcanic 
mud and ashes, or the debris and silt from the decomposition of lavas and 
tufaceous deposits. This soil and slope appear to be most admirably adapted 
to viticulture and would no doubt produce grapes from which a most superior 
grade and variety of wine could be made. This slope and soil extend to the 
mountains at Antelope, and beyond Barney Martin’s old place is near to the 
base of Rich Hill, sometimes called Weaver Mountain. The side next to 
Martin’s is composed of a fine-grained white granite, with a large amount of 
quartz in it and black mica. It is gneissic, in regular layers, and appears like 
a highly altered old sandstone. The bedding (gneissic layers) pitches north¬ 
erly at a low angle—about 30° to 35°. It may be called a granulitic granite; 
it appears to form the lower part of the mountain, the upper portion having 
a darker and brown color. 

West of Antelope (or Martin’s) the slate formation crops out and as at 
other places is marked by a white quartz vein, dipping northward and resem¬ 
bling the quartz lode known as the Leviathan, of which it is supposed to be a 


87 Blake, W. P., Report of the governor of Arizona, 1899, pp. 139-140. 





168 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


part, separated by some great fault, heave, or displacement. This quartz 
seemed quite barren and worthless for gold mining, though there may be rich 
pockets of coarse gold. Granite crops out west of the Leviathan lode hill. 
It is a granular gray granite of coarse texture and has some isolated crystals 
of feldspar. The Marcus gold vein traverses this rock in an east and west 
direction, and the granite is much altered and decomposed along its course. 

The old and well-known Vulture mine is situated in these mountains. The 
road to this mine up Hassayampa River is now almost never used except by 
an occasional sheepman. The road from Wickenburg to the mine is still open 
and is sometimes used, although the mine has been shut down for some years. 
The distance from Wickenburg to the mine, according to C. G. Puffer, is 13.7 
miles. There is a drilled well at the mine reported to be 2,000 feet deep. 

The Vulture deposit was discovered in 1863 88 by either Herman Ehrenberg 
or Henry Wickenburg, both of them well-known pioneers. Short descriptions 
of this mine by W. P. Blake, Territorial geologist, will be found in several of 
the annual reports of the governor of Arizona. He thought well of the mine 
and considered that development at depth would disclose good ore. He states 
that in its early history the mine produced more than $4,000,000. 

Saddle Mountain .—Saddle Mountain, south of the Palo Verde mine, is a 
prominent and well-known landmark for many miles around. It is visible from 
both roads between Arlington and Agua Caliente, as well as from that in 
Eagletail Valley and the Parker cut-off. Structurally it is a jumble of fault 
blocks, but no attempt to work out the structure in detail could be made in the 
time available. The shape of this mass of huge rock fragments is irregular 
and jagged in the extreme. Erosion has softened the outlines but little, and 
sheer, almost unscalable cliffs are the predominant topographic features. The 
mountain takes its name from the great saddle which divides it into two 
separate parts along an east-west line somewhat south of the middle. The 
rocks dip away from this saddle both north and south. The highest point of 
the mountain is 2,000 to 2,500 feet above its base. 

The rocks composing the mountain are for the most part volcanic. The 
lavas noted are fine-grained reddish felsites, somewhat coarser hornblende 
felsites, and gray vesicular basalts. The felsites, or at least most of them, have 
the composition of latite. There are also considerable thicknesses of frag¬ 
mental rocks ranging from agglomerates and breccias of distinctly igneous 
character to rocks consisting of angular fragments of lava about an inch in 
diameter in a white calcareous matrix. (See p. 24.) In the more acidic 
lavas and the agglomerates are numerous geodes of chalcedony and quartz, and 
much of the quartz shows radiating structure. In certain cliffs there are some 
peculiar hollows in beds of conglomerate and agglomerate, some of which 
almost amount to caves. (See PI. XVIII, B.) These appear to be due to a 
sort of concave exfoliation. They are not the result of solution or erosion. 

Palo Verde Hills .—North of Arlington and east of Saddle Mountain are a 
group of low hills which extend from a point near the Palo Verde mine to 
the vicinity of the town of Palo Verde. The Parker cut-off passes along their 
northern border. These hills, which do not rise more than 500 feet above the 
plain, are composed almost entirely of basaltic lava of Pleistocene age, except 
those close to Saddle Mountain. The butte to the left of the road just east of 
the Palo Verde mine is made up of fine-grained hornblende granite. A number 
of the basaltic hills are conical and from a distance have the appearance of 
ancient volcanoes, now somewhat worn and dissected by erosion. Time did not 
permit confirmation of this conjecture by closer examination. 


88 Hinton, R. J., Handbook to Arizona, p. 144, 1878. 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XV 



A. VIEW LOOKING NORTH FROM THE CONCRETE BRIDGE OVER AGUA FRIA 

RIVER AT COLD WATER, 



B. A FIELD OF LONG-STABLE COTTON ON THE BUCKEYE ROAD NEAR CASHION. 













WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XVI 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



A. PLAIN IN GILA BEND MOUNTAINS NEAR FOURTH OF JULY BUTTE 

LOOKING NORTH. 



B. YELLOW MEDICINE WELL, GILA BEND MOUNTAINS, FROM THE 

WEST. 













U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XVII 




A. WOOLSEY PEAK FROM WOOLSEY TANK. 

Men in foreground are set ting one of the United Slates Geological Survey signposts. 



B. WOOLSEY TANK 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XVIII 



A. SADDLE MOUNTAIN, LOOKING SOUTH. 



B. POCKETS IN CALCAREOUS CONGLOMERATE OF SADDLE MOUNTAIN. 

Due to a sort of concave exfoliation. 








U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY TAPER 498 PLATE XIX 



A. COURTHOUSE ROCK AND EAGLETAIL MOUNTAINS, LOOKING SOUTHEAST. 

Eagletail Peak in the left distance. 



B. HILLS OF CHLORITIC SCHIST AT SOUTH END OF RIGHORN MOUNTAINS, 

NEAR PALO VERDE MINE. 








U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 49S PLATE XX 



A. COLORADO RIVER AT PARKER. 
Showing bridge of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. 



B. RUSH’S FERRY ACROSS COLORADO RIVER AT PARKER, LOOKING NORTH. 
















DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


169 


Palo Verde mine to Salome and Wenden.— No difficulty will be encountered 
in finding the way across the adobe floor of the Harquahala Plain. The bends 
in the road are few, and the only forks of any consequence are marked by 
United States Geological Survey signs. The road may on the whole be con¬ 
sidered good, although if there has been much travel and a long period of 
dry weather it will be found somewhat cut up. Burned Place and Bighorn wells 
are watering places on this road, but only at the former is a convenient faucet 
for obtaining clean water provided. 

Near the northwest end of the plain, 30£ miles from the Palo Verde mine, a 
road branches off to the north. This road goes through Tehahatchipi Pass to 
Wenden, and travelers bound for Wenden are sometimes advised to take it 
because it is more than half a mile shorter than that by way of Tolladay’s 
Well and Harrisburg Valley. When traveled in October, 1917, however, it was 
in poor condition and there were numerous curves and steep grades, a few of 
which were difficult to surmount. Until considerable improvements are made 
on this road it is not recommended to automobile travelers. 

At the entrance to the pass connecting the Harquahala Plain and Harrisburg 
Valley an embankment with a corresponding excavation will be noted. This is 
locally referred to as “ the dam.” When this work was done the intention was 
to dig down to bedrock, which was supposed to be near the surface at this 
point, and put in a dam that would force the ground water to rise, thus pro¬ 
viding a cheap source of irrigating water. The project was abandoned before a 
great deal of work was done. As the well drilled near Tolladay’s Well in 1918 
reached a depth of 76 feet before bedrock was struck, the cost of damming the 
ground water at this place would probably have been found prohibitive. 

At Tolladay’s, where water can be obtained, there is a house, corrals, and an 
old and a new well. 

The road through Harrisburg Valley has been so well marked with signs 
by the Geological Survey that there should be no difficulty in traveling it. 
However, new roads are likely to be built or old ones revived by miners with 
properties in the surrounding mountains. Roads that branch off the main road 
should in general be avoided. Travelers bound for Wenden and beyond should 
take the fork to the right 5 miles west of Tolladay’s Well. This fork is 
marked by a Geological Survey sign. The road to Wenden crosses the western 
extremity of the Harquahala Mountains by an easy pass and thence continues 
as a good plains road. It passes Peters Well, one of the old stage stations now 
used as a watering place for cattle. 

Harrisburg Valley has a soft soil, and consequently the road through it is 
sometimes cut up, although not excessively so. The crossing of Centennial 
Wash at the west end of the valley presents no difficulties. From this point to 
Salome there is a good plains road. At the crossroads south of the railroad at 
Salome the traveler may either go across the railroad into the town or turn 
west and continue to Bouse and Parker. 

Harrisburg Valley has been in the past the scene of much more activity than 
at present. Nothing now remains of the old town of Harrisburg, but it is 
reported that in the boom days of mining in this vicinity there were several 
hundred people here and a number of pumping plants. Now there are probably 
only a dozen inhabitants in the whole valley. One of these, Mr. Reid, of the 
Harquahala Livestock Co., is irrigating from four wells. 

Salome, which had a population of 73 in 1920, is one of the shipping points 
for the Harcuvar mining district. It has a store where gasoline, oil, and sup¬ 
plies can be obtained, a small hotel and restaurant, and a post office. The 


170 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

railroad well supplies the town with good water. Data on this and other wells 
near Salome are given on pages 220-221. 

Harquahala Plain .—The extensive plain through which the Parker cut-off 
passes between the Palo Verde mine and Tolladay’s Well is floored for the most 
part with a compact adobe soil that might prove suitable for cultivation if 
water could be obtained, but the possibility of procuring sufficient water for 
irrigation seems at present to be remote. The water table lies at too great a 
depth for pumping from wells to prove profitable. There are, however, several 
tracts of rather good grazing land. The Harquahala Livestock Co. and Parker 
Cattle Co. have cattle on this plain and have put down a number of wells to 
supply water for their stock. 

The several lines of mesquite trees and bushes that extend across the Har¬ 
quahala Plain in a southeasterly direction mark the course of Centennial Wash, 
which is described on pages 202, 204-206, 212-213. 

Lone Mountain is an eminence of granite rising abruptly from the surface of 
the plain 9 miles southeast of Tolladay’s Well. North of the Parker road are 
a number of buttes and hills, composed mostly of basalt. 

Eagletail Mountains .—The Eagletail Mountains form a very highly colored 
range and for this reason are very conspicuous. They are built up of nearly 
horizontal flows of lava of Tertiary age interbedded with thick layers of tuff. 
The total thickness of the beds is more than 1,000 feet and must originally 
have been greater. The lava beds rest on an irregular surface of pre-Cambrian 
metamorphic rocks, most of which are granitic gneiss. Gneiss of this char¬ 
acter crops out in some washes on the northern border of the range and 
forms a large part of the hills that project northeastward from the main 
mass of the mountains in T. 1 N., It. 10 W. The flows and tuffs are cut by 
pipes, dikes, and sills of felsitic igneous rock. The diversity of types of rock 
in these flows and intrusions is shown by the variety of colors exhibited. 
Nearly every flow is different in color from those above and below it, and each 
stands out from the others with clean-cut boundaries. Among the colors are 
brilliant yellow, soft green, vivid red, somber brown and dun, and creamy 
white, with streaks of purple, heliotrope, and other hues. The petrographer 
who is interested in Tertiary igneous rocks would find much to interest him 
here and in several of the other ranges in this region where similar rocks 
occur. The time available for the present investigation was so short that 
little attention could be given to such questions. 

In a general way the beds strike parallel to the trend of the range, approxi¬ 
mately N. 55 W., and dip gently to the southwest. Steep scarps on both sides 
of the range suggest that it was produced by faulting the downtlirown blocks 
forming Little Horn Valley to the south and Harquahala Plain to the north. 
The fault on the north face apparently disappears toward the east, where hills 
of gneiss extend for some distance out into the plain. The range has been 
broken to some extent by subordinate faults, and the beds of which it is com¬ 
posed show local crumpling and folding. These minor disturbances of the 
strata, together with the intrusion of cylindrical plugs of igneous rock, have 
resulted in the development of a broken and rugged surface with many fan¬ 
tastic forms. Flate XIX, A, gives a general view of this range. Unfortu¬ 
nately, it was taken on one of the cloudy days that occasionally occur in 
winter even in this “land of perpetual sunshine,” and in consequence the strata 
in the sides of the mountains can not be seen in the photograph. The plugs 
or pipes of intrusive rock already mentioned give rise to striking land forms, of 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


171 


which Courthouse Rock, shown in Plate XIX, A, is a typical example. It is 
composed of cream-colored lava, in part weathered to a yellowish brown, and 
towers 1,000 feet sheer above its base, which is circular and only a few hundred 
feet in diameter. With the exception of a few cracks, mostly vertical, the 
•walls are smooth and almost vertical nearly to the summit, where the cylin¬ 
drical column has been partly broken by weathering. This peak is reported 
to have been scaled, truly a worth while bit of mountain climbing. The range 
itself takes its name from a similar but even higher peak, near its east end, 
whose summit is broken up into three points and has a fancied resemblance to 
an eagle’s tail sticking straight up into the air. 

Bighorn Mountains .—The Bighorn Mountains extend northward from the 
vicinity of the Palo Verde mine. Little is known about them except what can be 
seen from the Parker cut-olf to the south. They are built up principally of 
nearly flat-lying strata of lava and tuff of Tertiary age. If, as is probable, 
the prominent yellow strata are tuft, this rock predominates in the range. 
Near the Palo Verde mine is an outlying hill belonging to this range. (See 
PI. XIX, B .) This is composed of green chloritic schist. No similar rock 
was observed elsewhere in the region, but it may safely be referred to the 
pre-Cambrian complex and indicates that in this range, as elsewhere, the 
Tertiary rocks rest on a basement of ancient metamorpluc rocks. 

The name Calico Peak, which has been given to one of the prominent emi¬ 
nences, suggests the brilliant coloring which the variegated lavas and tuffs 
give to this range. The range is named from a peak that has a fancied resem¬ 
blance to the horn of a mountain sheep. 

Little Harquahala Mountains .—South of Harrisburg Valley, between the 
Harquahala Mountains and the Granite Wash Hills, are the Little Harqua¬ 
hala Mountains. (See P'l. III.) On some maps they are shown as a part 
of the Harquahala Mountains, but they really constitute a distinct range, as 
there is a well-defined alluvial plain between them and the Harquahala Moun¬ 
tains proper. 

The Little Harquahala Mountains form a rugged range that rises to a 
maximum altitude of about 2,600 feet above sea level. They are composed of 
metamorphic rocks—schist, limestone, dolomite, and gneiss—of probable pre- 
Cambrian age. Near Granite Wash Pass, at the west end of the range, Ban¬ 
croft 88 mapped an area of granite which he considered to be Mesozoic. Fix¬ 
tending south from these mountains, almost to the Eagletail Mountains, and 
also scattered along the western border, are small basalt buttes. Small mines 
and prospects have been located in these mountains. Both gold and copper 
have been found. The largest mine is the Harquahala, which is described on 
page 193. 

Salome to Vicksburg .—On the south side of the railroad, opposite Salome, is 
a cross road, marked by a United States Geological Survey sign, where the 
road from Phoenix by way of Wickenburg and Wenden joins the road from 
Phoenix by way of Buckeye. From this point the road follows the railroad 
more or less closely all the way to Parker. From the crossroads westward to 
Granite Wash Pass, a distance of 2£ miles, there is a good plains road. The 
road through the pass was also good in the winter of 1918, but as it is in 
the bed of a wash for some distance its condition probably changes with every 
flood. Although the hills here are not high they are rugged and picturesque, 
and to a lover of mountain scenery the view is beautiful. On the whole, the 


89 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, 1911. 



172 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


road to Vicksburg after leaving the hills is good. The descent to the Ranegras 
Plains west of the hills is steep, and consequently an excellent view across 
the plains is obtained from the road. There are several basalt hills near Vicks¬ 
burg. When the westbound traveler sees the flat tops of the outlying mesas 
of the Plomosa Mountains behind these hills, the appearance from some points 
of view is that of a broad area of mountainous country to the south and west. 
In reality the hills near by are only small and scattered outliers of the hills 
through which he has just come, and the nearest part of the Plomosa Moun¬ 
tains is more than 10 miles away and is separated from these hills by the adobe 
flats of the Ranegras Plains, sun baked and almost devoid of vegetation. For 
recent data on this road see page 230. 

The Granite Wash Hills are separated from the Little Harquahala Mountains 
on the south by Granite Wash Pass and are partly separated from the Harcu- 
var Mountains on the north by the pass often called Tank Pass, because of 
the tank or spring near its summit. There is no sharp topographic break be¬ 
tween them and the Harcuvar Mountains, and Bancroft 90 considered them a part 
of this range. The Granite Wash Hills are a rugged mass. They consist of 
schist and other metamorphic rocks together with limestone and granites. 
According to Bancroft, 91 the granite is probably of Mesozoic age. He describes 
several prospects in these hills, and there is at the present time considerable 
activity in copper prospecting here. 

In 1918 Vicksburg had very few inhabitants. No one lived there except those 
connected with the railroad, perhaps half a dozen whites and a few Mexican 
section hands. There is a post office in the railroad station, and the section 
foreman keeps a provision store in his house a short distance west of the sta¬ 
tion. The other houses and shacks in the town are all deserted. The popula¬ 
tion of Vicksburg precinct was 96 in 1920. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 
Railway Co. drilled a well here but failed to get water and had to sink 
another at McVay, 6 miles farther west, where it was more successful. Water 
is brought to Vicksburg in tank cars and can be obtained from the cistern 
at the section house. Vicksburg is the shipping point for a number of small 
mining properties in the mountains north of it. If one of these should develop 
into an important mine, Vicksburg would regain the comparative prosperity 
it. enjoyed when it was the railroad terminus of the mail route to Quartzsite. 
A shorter and better road to Quartzsite was built from Bouse in 1910, and the 
mail has since gone over this road. 


Vicksburg to Bouse. —The'20-mile stretch between Vicksburg and Bouse is 
a good desert road which has recently been improved by the county authorities. 
The alinement of the Vicksburg end of the road was not changed, but the 
grade of the old road was improved and the crossings of washes put in good 
shape. Farther west the county abandoned the old alinement and made a 
piece of straight road along the railroad. In 1918 travel still followed the old 
road, however, the new road not being used because, although graded and 
straight, it was soft. The old road has many curves but has a much better sur¬ 
face. This is a common result of attempts at road improvement in this sec¬ 
tion of the country. Usually the money available for highway construction is 
entirely inadequate for the construction of good new metaled road. Under 
these circumstances it would seem to be wiser to spend the money on hand 
in improving the road already in existence, even if it is crooked, by doing away 
with the steep pitches, building concrete dips across bad washes, etc., rather 


90 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, p. 21, pi. 1, 1911. 

91 Idem, p. 104. 





DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 173 

than to lay out a straight road across the desert, grade it, and cut away the 
brush but leave the surface soft. 

Near Bouse is a series of low black hills and buttes north of the railroad 
composed of basalt. The presence of white volcanic ash in a wash crossed 
y the road shows that the volcanic forces that produced the hills sometimes 
acted with explosive violence. The hills are known as the Bouse Hills The 
log of the railroad well at Bouse shows that the lava extends out under the 
valley fill for a considerable distance. This is probably one of the principal 

reasons why it is possible in this town to get water at depths of only 25 to 50 
feet. 

In 1910 Bouse had a population of 200, but in 1920 it had only 167. It is the 
junction of the Arizona & Swansea Railroad with the main line of the Atchi¬ 
son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway from Phoenix to Parker. The Arizona & 
Swansea Railroad runs to the smelting and mining town of Swansea, 22 
miles to the north, in the Buckskin Mountains. Bouse has several stores and 
hotels, a post office, and two garages. There is a railroad well here, also a 
number of privately owned wells, the water from some of which is being used 
for irrigation. The quantity of water available does not appear to be great, 
and the quality is not very high. Consequently it is unlikely that any con¬ 
siderable amount of irrigation will be done. The town is the railroad ship- 
ping point foi Quartzsite, 24 miles to the southwest, and for the mining prop¬ 
erties near that town and in the Plomosa Mountains. Thomas Bales and 
others have cattle interests on the Ranegras Plains, near the northwest end 
of which Bouse is located. (For data on w r ells in Bouse and on the Ranegras 
Plains see pp. 202-203, 207, 216, 223-225.) 

Bouse to Parker .—The road out of Bouse is well marked with signs, and 
there should be no difficulty in finding the way. It is south of the railway, 
but at some distance from it so that the railway tracks are not visible from 
considerable parts of the road. A short distance beyond Bouse the road passes 
around the northern extremity of the Plomosa Mountains. There are several 
small mines in this end of the mountains, and roads to them branch off from 
the main road at several points. The mining companies have placed signs at 
some of these forks, and at all of them the Parker road is so good and so well 
marked as to be easily distinguished. (For a description of the Plomosa 
Mountains see p. 184.) 

The road follows in general the Bouse Wash to a point about 15 miles from 
Bouse, where the wash continues westward to Colorado River and the road 
swings northward. This wash is larger and longer than the average wash in 
this region. It is crossed and recrossed by the road several times in its course. 
Somewhat more than 2 miles west of the turn where the road finally leaves 
the wash there is a small mountain range composed largely of pre-Cambrian 
gneiss but capped in part by basalt. At the north end of these mountains are 
a number of hills composed of partly consolidated Pleistocene gravel capped 
by basalt. This basalt laps up over the gneiss and is probably a part of the 
same flow or series of flows that caps the range. 

The desolate and sandy plain north of the Plomosa Mountains and south of 
the Buckskin Mountains is known as Cactus Plain. A number of small hills 
scattered over the plain to the north can be seen from the Bouse-Parker road. 
Those close to the road are in large part composed of limestone, some of which 
show's hematite stains and other signs of mineralization. Some prospecting 
has been done here. The composition of the hills farther north is not known. 
Near the mountains the fill underlying the plain is gravelly, but most of Cactus 
Plain is floored with fine silt and sand which is blown about by the wunds. 
Much of this sand has been carried by the wind from the flood plain of Colo- 


174 


LOWER GILA REGION', ARIZONA. 


ratio River. There is a scattered and scanty vegetation of palo verde, iron- 
wood, and creosote. 

The road for the first 15 miles out of Bouse lias recently been improved by 
the county authorities and is very good. The rest of the road to Parker in 
1917 was bad but passable. The county had a large force at work extending 
the improved portion of the road in December, 1917. It is planned soon to 
construct as good a road as possible as far as the boundary of the Colorado 
River Indian Reservation. This work will improve the worst stretch of the 
present road, but it will leave 10 or 11 miles of sandy unimproved road between 
the reservation line and Parker. East of the mountains mentioned above there- 
are innumerable gullies, and the road no sooner gets out of one gully than it 
plunges into another. Fortunately there is somewhat less sand here than 
nearer Parker. After leaving the gullied area the road for a distance of about 
3 miles is on a comparatively flat, somewhat sandy plain. The road leaves the 
plain and descends in a large gully 1£ miles long, with much sand in the 
bottom, to the flood plain of Colorado River. It remains on the flood plain, 
passing Indian farms, for 1£ miles, and then ascends to the wide terrace on 
which Parker is situated and continues over a sandy plain to Parker. This 
stretch and the stretch on the flood plain are sandy but present no particular* 
difficulties. 

No wells so far as known have been put down along this part of the road 
except those near Parker and one dry hole in the Bouse Wash, in sec. 5, T. 7 N., 
R. 17 W., near the Little Butte mine. The dry hole in the Bouse Wash is re¬ 
ported to have been sunk 105 feet, all in rock, without striking any water. In 
sinking the shaft at the Little Butte mine the first water was struck at a depth 
of 150 feet. The shaft is now down (550 feet on the incline, corresponding to 
a vertical depth of 400 feet, and contains a considerable quantity of water. 
(For data on wells in the vicinity of Parker see pp. 217-218.) 

Parker is a division point on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 
and the only town in the Colorado River Indian Reservation. It contains 
several stores, hotels, and garages, a post office, a moving-picture house, and 
an ice plant. The population was 500 according to the census of 1910 but only 
282 in 1920. There are several wells in the town, all of which supply good 
water. (See pp. 217-218.) A small amount of irrigation is done in the town 
with water pumped from wells. 

The railroad crosses Colorado River at Parker on a structural steel bridge- 
(see PI. XX, A), but there is no provision on this bridge for foot travelers or 
vehicles. The ferry at this place, known as Bush’s Ferry, is equipped with a 
boat 65 feet long propelled by twin screws driven by gasoline engines. (See 
IT. XX, B.) The charge is $2 per automobile. Foot travelers are carried free 
if the boat is crossing with an automobile; it a special trip has to be made 
for a person on foot the charge is the same as for an automobile. 

The agency and school of the Colorado River Indian Reservation are west of 
the town of Parker, and the town itself is within the reservation. Tire fol¬ 
lowing data regarding the reservation were obtained from the report of the 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1917. The 
Indians on the reservation belong to the Mohave, Chemehuevi, and Kawia 
tribes. The Cocopa Indians come under the jurisdiction ot the agency but do 
not live on the reservation. The total area of the reservation is 240,699 acres, 
of which 6,100 acres was under the reservation irrigation project and 1,149' 
j\ores are actually cultivated by the Indians during the fiscal year. The value 
of the crops raised was $73,112. The total value of the horses, mules, and 
cattle owned by the Indians was $79,249. The number of Indians on the- 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


175 


reservation was 1,207, of whom 321 were able-bodied male adults. In 1920 
the population of the part of the reservation in Arizona was 1,049, including 
the 282 inhabitants of Parker. Extracts from a report on irrigation in the 
reservation, by A. L. Harris, are given on pages 108-117. More recent informa- 
fmn on irrigation here and at other places on the lower Colorado River is con¬ 
tained in reports submitted to the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands of 
the House of Representatives. 92 

Harquahala Mountains .—The Harquahala Mountains form one of the most 
prominent ranges in southwestern Arizona. Harquahala is a word of Indian 
origin, reported to mean “running water” (harqua, water; hala, running). 93 
3 his name is supposed to have been given it because of the occurrence of a 


small spring-fed stream in the northeastern part of the range which is reported 
to flow at all seasons. Harquahala Mountain, the central mass of this range, 
has an altitude of 5,«69 feet above sea level and is much the highest point 
in the area covered by this guide. Its bold, smooth front and massive, rounded 
summit give it a dignity and impressiveness that are lacking in the more 
elaborately carved mountains found in most of the ranges. Eagle Eye Peak, 
at or near the northeast end of the range, is also prominent. It is reported 
to owe its name to the presence of a cave in its side which, when seen at a 
distance, has a fancied resemblance to the eye of an eagle. 94 

The range is composed largely of metamorphic rocks belonging to three 
different series. Of these series the two oldest are almost certainly pre- 
Cambrian and the youngest may be as young as Paleozoic. Lithologically the 
youngest series shows some resemblance to rocks of Paleozoic age elsewhere in 
Arizona, but in the absence of fossils its age can not be definitely determined. 

The oldest of the metamorphic rocks are granitic gneiss, with which are 
associated small amounts of highly metamorphosed schist. These rocks are 
overlain by fine-grained calcareous quartz-mica schists and quartzite. Some 
of the rocks at the Socorro mine belong to the least metamorphosed sediments 
of this range. Bancroft 95 has studied the section exposed here and gives the 
following description of it: 


Coarse-grained granite which shows some schistosity is the basal rock in 
this locality and is similar to the pre-Cambrian granite so universally present in 
this area. Resting unconformably upon the granitic rock is a series of slightly 
metamorphosed sediments, of which about 150 feet of fine-grained grayish-red 
quartzite forms the base. This is overlain by several hundred feet of yellowish- 
brown limestone, the upper portion of which contains intercalated argillites 
and quartz-mica schists. Strata of schistose shaly limestone and a rock very 
closely resembling a dolomite (containing, however, fragments of quartz) were 
noticed near the contact of the quartzite and the overlying limstone. A great 
number of pseudomorphs of hematite after pyrite were noted in parts of the 
basal granite in the vicinity and also in a rock near the contact between lime¬ 
stone and quartzite in the ridge just south of the shaft house. One specimen of 
quartz-mica schist taken from the dump and reported to have come from the 
325-foot level about 350 feet south of the shaft shows abundant amounts of 
tourmaline and pyrite scattered through it. The whole sedimentary series has 
been tilted so that it now occupies diverse positions. The prevalent direction 
of dip, however, is east or southeast, the amount varying from 30° to 80°. 
Faulting has also taken place on a large scale. Small quartz veins are present 


82 Hearings before the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands, House of Representa¬ 
tives, 67th Cong., 2d sess., on H. R. 11449, A hill to provide for the protection and 
development of the lower Colorado River basin; Appendix A, Reports on the Parker, 
Fort Mohave, and Cibola irrigation projects, Arizona, 1922. 

83 Marsh, Newton, Wenden, Ariz., personal communication. 

M Jones, E. L., personal communication. 

06 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, pp. 111—112, 1911. 



176 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


in all of the formations, and calcite veins are not uncommon in the fractured 
limestone. A minette dike similar to that seen in the Valensuella workings 
was noted cutting the limestone on the ridge projecting southward from the 
mine, and this is possibly an accompaniment of the main granite intrusion 
found several miles farther west. 

These sedimentary rocks are among the youngest formations in the range, 
and it is believed probable that they may be of Paleozoic age. 

Bancroft’s descriptions of the ore deposits on the Hercules, Socorro, and San 
Marcos properties in these mountains 80 show that many faults occur. The fact 
that the northwest side of the range, facing McMullen Valley, is much steeper 
and less carved by erosion than the southeast side, facing the Harquahala 
Plain, suggests that the former may be a fault scarp. 

Some prospecting for gold and copper has been carried on in these mountains, 
but there is not a great deal of mining activity in them at present. 

Wenden to Butler Well .—Wenden is a town on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa 
Fe Railway, which, according to the census of 1910, had a population of 175; 
in 1920 the population of Wenden precinct was 129. The town contains several 
stores, a garage, two hotels, and a post office. Good water is obtained from the 
town well, from which it is piped to most of the houses. The town is a ship¬ 
ping point for mines in the Harcuvar and Harquahala mountains and for the 
products of farmers and cattlemen living in Harrisburg, McMullen, and Butler 
valleys. Only a very small amount of irrigation is carried on here. 

There is a belief among local people in McMullen Valley that artesian 
water could be obtained here by drilling a deep well. This belief does not 
seem well founded, as there is nothing in the geology of this locality to sug¬ 
gest such a possibility. The belief appears to be based on such occurrences 
as the following: In 1905 E. S. Jones drilled a well on his land in the NE. $ 
sec. 9, T. 3 N., R. 13 W., without encountering any appreciable amount of 
water to a depth of 202 feet, where he struck a strong flow that quickly rushed 
up until it stood within 100 feet below the surface. As the records of several 
wells in this locality show that the water table is at a depth of about 100 
feet, this rise was to be expected and does not imply that water under suffi¬ 
cient head to rise to the surface would be found by going deeper. There is 
a rumor that the water in an old well in Wenden, now out of commission, 
once rose as far as the surface, but this rumor was not substantiated. The 
table on page 220 shows that ground-water conditions in this valley are of 
the usual kind for this region. The only things that can be considered par¬ 
ticularly unusual are the short distance to water in the old Wenden town 
well and the rather great depth to''water in the railroad well at Salome. 

The road goes due north from Wenden nearly to the foot of the Harcuvar 
Mountains, a distance of 6 miles. This road is good in dry weather if it is 
not cut up by too much travel, but in wet weather it is muddy and conse 
quently bad. The road is reported to be excellent shortly after a rain, when 
the ground has dried out, because the old ruts have been filled and new ones 
have not yet been formed. Only a day or two is required after even a very 
heavy rain for the surface of the ground to become dry. Branch roads leave 
the main road to the west at several points, but the only ones at which any 
doubt is likely to arise are marked by United States Geological Survey signs. 

At the end of the straight stretch the road turns east and the ascent of the 
Harcuvar Mountains through Cunningham Pass commences. In the lower 
part of this ascent there are several turns in the road and some washes are 
crossed, none of which present notable difficulties to automobiles. A number 


M Op. cit., pp. 109-115. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


17T 


of branch roads on both sides of the mountains lead to mines or prospects. 
Most of these turn off to the west. Some of those where doubt might arise 
as to the proper route are marked by United States Geological Survey signs. 
Such roads change frequently, as old prospects are abandoned and new ones 
are opened, and it was therefore impracticable to place signposts at every 
fork. The large mining concerns and some of the smaller ones have erected, 
wooden signs at the forks leading to their properties. Signs have also been 
erected by garage owners and others. Consequently, if the traveler exercises 
judgment, he is not likely to take the wrong road. Moreover, as none of the 
mines in this section are far from the main road, he would not be delayed 
very long if he should take one of these branch roads by mistake. 

Near one of the forks leading to the property of the Desert Mining & Develop¬ 
ment Co., 9 miles from Wenden, there is a well about 100 yards southeast of 
the road which is banked up with rock and dirt so that the top of the curbing 
is 6 feet above the level of the ground. It is covered with boards to exclude 
dirt and animals. Water can be obtained by lowering a bucket with a rope. 
The water is satisfactory for drinking, although it has a perceptible taste. The 
depth to water from the top of the curbing in October, 1917, was 61.6 feet. 

The Harcuvar Mountains form one of the most prominent and conspicuous 
ranges in the territory covered by this guide. Their topography is more serrate 
than that of the Harquahala Mountains, to the south. Harcuvar Peak, near 
their west end, rises 4,391 feet above sea level. The Harcuvar Mountains are 
composed almost exclusively of pre-Cambrian rocks, both metamorphosed sedi¬ 
mentary rocks and gneissic granite. According to Bancroft, 97 granite of prob¬ 
able Mesozoic age occurs near the west end of the range. Harcuvar Peak is 
composed of granite of this age. Bancroft says that considerable contact 
metamorphism took place in the vicinity of the intrusions. He considers this 
granite to be the source of the mineralization in the Harcuvar Mountains and 
Granite Wash Hills. Dikes of vogesite, minette, pegmatite, and aplite are 
associated with the granite. A number of small mines and prospects will be 
noted in passing over Cunningham Pass on the road between Wenden and 
Parker. Considerable activity in copper prospecting was in progress in 1918,. 
and several promising strikes were reported. Bancroft gives a number of 
geologic descriptions of prospects in the Harcuvar Mountains. 

The road through Cunningham Pass is a good though rough mountain road. 
The northern slope is on the whole steeper and longer than the southern but 
has no very steep grades. From the foot of the northern slope the road leads; 
northwestward across Butler Valley to Butler Well. It is a fairly good plains 
road but has a few short sandy stretches, especially near the mountains. 

Butler Valley lies between the Buckskin Mountains on the north and the 
Harcuvar Mountains on the south. The east end was not visited, but from the 
main road some hills and small mountains can be seen extending partly across 
the valley at that end. At the west end are the Granite Wash Hills, the Bouse 
Hills, and some scattered buttes south of the Buckskin Mountains. These 
groups of hills and buttes partly close the valley at this end. Cunningham, 
Wash, carrying the drainage of Butler Valley, passes between the Granite Wash 
Hills and Bouse Hills to its confluence with Bouse Wash. 

Butler Valley is used as a cattle range for the Renada ranch. It has a fairly 
good growth of grass, and much of its soil would be suitable for cultivation if 
water were available. The ranch has three wells (see pp. 205, 220), but 
Butler Well is the only one of these that is near an important road. A supply 
of water is generally kept in the tank at this well for the convenience of 


87 Bancroft, Howland, op. cit., p. 29. 





178 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


travelers. This was originally a dug well, but it was drilled deeper in 1911 
and was further improved in 1918. The Renada Ranch Co. plans to sink a 
number of other wells in the valley and hopes to do some irrigation if sufficient 
water of suitable quality can be found. 

The Renada ranch is about 5 miles east of the Butler Well on a good plains 
road. It is also reached by a road that leaves the main road just north of 
Cunningham Pass, where a United States Geological Survey sign has been 
erected. The road from Wenden to Alamo, on Williams River, by way of 
Cunningham Pass crosses the eastern part of this valley. There is also a 
road leading southwestward from Butler Well along Cunningham Pass to 
Graham Well, one of the other wells belonging to the Renada ranch. 

Butler Well to Osborne Well .—From Butler Well the road leads northwest 
over the desert for about 3 miles and then crosses a spur of the Buckskin 
Mountains for about 7 miles. The road across the desert is fairly good. Two 
faint roads branch off from it, and a United States Geological Survey sign is 
placed at the plainer of the two. In the mountains, the road is winding and 
has a few steep grades but is on the whole a good mountain road. A Geological 
Survey sign near the west end of this stretch marks the point where a little 
used road branches to the northwest. This brancli reaches the Arizona & 
Swansea Railroad at Midway, a short distance north of the point where the 
Parker road reaches it. At Midway there is a water tank which is usually 
kept filled by the railroad company. Prospectors often camp here. Travelers 
from Wenden to Swansea will find the distance somewhat shorter by taking 
this branch rather than following the Parker road to the railroad. The Parker 
road runs south along the railroad for a short distance and then crosses it and 
swings to the north. The point where the road reaches the railroad and the 
point where it leaves the railroad are both marked by Geological Survey signs. 
An old mine shaft, 55 feet deep, is passed somewhat less than a quarter of a 
mile beyond the railroad. It probably once contained water, as an old wooden 
sign says “ Water here,” but in September, 1917, it was dry. 

About 3 miles from the railroad the road turns west and passes through low 
hills. Red wind-blown sand is found here, but not enough to be troublesome. 
Dunes of this red sand cover considerable tracts of Cactus Plain, to the south¬ 
west. From this turn the road skirts the Buckskin Mountains for about 9 
miles to a road fork. On account of numerous washes from the mountains 
that cross the road, there are many sharp pitches, but none of them are ex¬ 
cessively steep. The road to the north goes to Osborne Well, a distance of 1 
mile. The main road continues 1 mile to a fork, where another road to 
Osborne Well, here less than half a mile away, branches off the main road. 
Both forks are marked by United States Geological Survey signs. Westbound 
travelers desiring to go to Osborne Well would take the first fork mentioned; 
eastbound travelers would take the second one. Both roads are fairly good 
as far as the well. A road leads north along the wash from Osborne Well 
through the Buckskin Mountains. This road is reported to be practicable for 
wagons but would probably present considerable difficulty to an automobile., 

At Osborne Well there are a number of houses, one of which is marked 
“ Office.” The well is on the bank of a wash. It has a wooden headframe, a 
trapdoor to keep animals and dirt out, and a rope, windlass, and buckets with 
which to obtain the water, which is apparently of good quality except that it 
may be contaminated with dead animals. This place is a camp belonging to 
Mr. Osborne, of Parker, who has mining interests in the Buckskin Mountains. 

Buckskin Mountains .—The Buckskin Mountains, also called the Williams 
Mountains, extend along both sides of Williams River for 35 or 40 miles. 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


179 


Only the southern border was visited during this investigation. Bancroft * s 
gives the following account of these mountains: 

North and south of Williams River the country for several miles is built 
up by low foothills which gradually rise to the base of a few prominent peaks, 
among which Planet is by far the most noteworthy, and these constitute the 
Williams Mountains. They are so decidedly different from the other ranges 
in the area that the presence of foothills is worthy of remark. 

Foothills occur to some extent on the southern border of the mountains also. 
The whole range is much more elaborately carved by erosion and a far less 
•compact unit than most of the other ranges in this region. 

The Buckskin Mountains are composed mostly of pre-Cambrian rocks of 
igneous and sedimentary origin. Near Osborne Well outcrops of a fresh gray 
granite with no suggestion of gneissic structure were noted. This granite in 
places contains grains of specularite. Shallow prospect holes have been sunk 
in it. Probably it belongs to the group of intrusive rocks that occur in a num¬ 
ber of the ranges in this area and are considered to be Mesozoic. Lava, tuff, 
tuffaceous conglomerate, and sedimentary rocks occur in a number of places in 
the range. They were observed at Osborne Well and north and west of that 
place, and Bancroft 00 mentions such rocks at several prospects in these moun¬ 
tains. As seen north of Osborne Well these rocks rest unconformably both on 
the pre-Cambrian rocks and on the more recent granite. They may be referred 
with considerable certainty to the Tertiary period. Grayish tuff and tuffaceous 
•conglomerate are exposed at a number of places north of the Parker road west 
of Osborne Well. Much of the tuff is very thinly and regularly bedded, sug¬ 
gesting deposition in a lake. 

About 6 miles west of Osborne Well, on the north side of one of the outlying 
hills of the Buckskin Mountains, is a scarp in which a peculiar igneous rock 
is plainly exposed. This is an intrusive rock of Tertiary age that differs in 
several respects from any seen elsewhere in the region. Microscopic exami¬ 
nation shows that it is a gabbro with coarse granulitic texture. The igneous 
mass has a very irregular outline, but the greatest extension of the exposed 
part is in a horizontal direction. On the west are beds of brown sandstone 
dipping about 10° south and striking roughly east. The contact of this rock 
with the gabbro is very irregular, and the sandstone is somewhat baked 
along it. Directly overlying the igneous rock is a basalt flow that caps the 
hill and is only 50 feet or so thick. When seen from a distance the lower 
part of the igneous mass seems to have a rough horizontal stratification, prob¬ 
ably due to jointing. The upper part does not exhibit this apparent stratifi¬ 
cation but weathers in rounded masses 2 feet or more in diameter. The rock 
in these masses is full of grains of calcite, which give it a pseudo-amygdaloidal 
appearance. The texture differs somewhat from that of the underlying por¬ 
tion, being on the whole coarser. 

This irregular mass of gabbro was clearly intruded into the brown sandstone, 
which almost certainly belongs to the Tertiary. Whether the gabbro is of 
Tertiary age alid was exposed by erosion before the eruption of the basalt that 
now covers it, or whether it is Pleistocene and was intruded into its present 
position subsequent to the deposition of the lava is not known with certainty. 
The field relations suggest the second alternative, but it is difficult to understand 
how a coarsely crystalline igneous rock could be formed so close to the surface. 
Capping all the other rocks in the western part of the range is a thick basalt 


98 Bancroft, Howland, op. cit., p. 21. 
98 Idem, pp. 66, 67, 75, 77. 


49417—23-13 




180 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


flow which gives a characteristic mesa topography to this area. At Osborne 
Well basalt rests unconformably on a tuffaceous conglomerate. Lee 1 states 
that in Williams Canyon the Temple Bar conglomerate, of Quaternary age, 
nearly 1,000 feet thick, is overlain by this basalt, which is there 800 feet thick. 

Osborne Well to Parker .—The Wenden-Parker road after leaving the fork 
south of Osborne Well continues to skirt the mountains, following very closely 
the course of Osborne Wash. At a point about 9 miles from the fork the wash 
turns somewhat to the north, but the road continues west to Parker. A short 
distance east of this point two prominent hills on the south are passed. The 
more westerly of these is known as Black Peak, because of its cap of black lava, 
and is a well-known landmark. The other hill has a steep scarp of bare rock 
on the north side, which can be distinctly seen from the road. This is the 
place where the peculiar intrusive mass mentioned on page 179 occurs. 

The last 6 miles of the road to Parker leads over Cactus Plain and, though 
very sandy, is not very rough and is passable. Trouble might be experienced 
here if large amounts of sand should happen to be blown into the road by the 
wind. This stretch would be bad in very wet weather. (For a description of 
Parker and vicinity, see pp. 174-175. 

Bouse to Swansea .—The road from Bouse to Swansea runs northward along 
the Arizona & Swansea Railroad and crosses the Wenden-Parker road 12 
miles from Bouse. From this point it continues 10 miles farther to the mining 
town of Swansea, at which is the only smelter in this section of the country. 
For the first 12 miles from Bouse the road is a good desert road that crosses 
the railroad four times. Beyond this stretch the road enters the mountains. 
The 10 miles from the Parker road to Swansea was not traveled during the 
present survey, but the road is reported to be a good mountain road. It crosses 
the railroad several times. At Midway there is a water tank which is usually 
kept filled by the railroad company. 

VICKSBURG TO QUARTZSITE. 

[For log see pp. 142-143.] 

The road between Vicksburg and Quartzsite is one of the routes used by 
travelers on the way to or from California by way of Ehrenberg Ferry. The 
alternative route is that between Bouse and Quartzsite, described on pages 
183-184. Vicksburg is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 
20 miles southeast of Bouse. Both towns are on the Parker cut-off. (See 
pp. 123-124.) 

For travelers between Ehrenberg and places east of Vicksburg the route by 
way of Bouse from Quartzsite is 14 miles longer than that direct to Vicksburg, 
but the road is much better, especially in wet weather. 

The direct road between Quartzsite and Vicksburg is a part of the old stage 
and military road between points in California and Wickenburg, Prescott, and 
Phoenix, in Arizona. Quartzsite, then called Tyson’s or Las Posas, was a 
station on the stage line, and Desert Well, 5 miles southwest of the present 
town of Vicksburg, was another. Vicksburg was not then in existence. The 
next station to the east was at Mesquite Well, south of the present town of 
Salome. (See p. 213.) East of this the next station is locally stated to have 
been at Cullins (Colling’s) Well, about 15 miles farther on. Peters Well, south 
of Wenden, was also used at one time as a station on the stage line. R. J. 
Hinton 2 gives a list of stage stations. The station he calls Flint’s is probably 
Mesquite Well, and the one he calls McMullen’s is at or near Peters Well. 


‘Lee, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Bull 352, p. 54, 1908. 

J Handbook to Arizona, appendix, 1878. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


181 


The road goes south between the now deserted shacks of Vicksburg, then 
southwest to Desert Well. It is a good desert road for this distance but 
would be somewhat muddy in wet weather. 

At Desert Well is a windmill, water tank, and corral belonging to Mr. 
r J hornas Bales, a local cattleman, and an old adobe house. A regiment of 
cavalry was camped at this place for many months during the Apache troubles. 
The well is 35 or 40 years old. It was originally dug by the Government for 
military purposes. The few scattering mesquite trees about the well furnish 
the only verdure for miles around. 

Beyond Desert Well on the westbound trip care must be taken to keep suffi¬ 
ciently to the right to avoid getting on the road leading southeastward to 
Bales’s ranch or that leading southward to Twentymile Well and the mine 
of the Shamrock Mining Co. There is a road from this mine back to the 
Vicksburg-Quartzsite road, so that the detour would add only half a mile 
to the trip. The road should be avoided, however, as some stretches of it have 
sufficiently high centers to be likely to cause serious trouble to an automobile, 
especially one that is low hung. The Geological Survey sign at Desert Well 
should aid in starting the traveler on the right road. 

This portion of the Ranegras Plains is made up of extensive adobe flats. In 
times of flood layers of fine silt are spread over the flats, which are soon dried 
out by the sun. A crust of hardened mud is thus formed whose surface makes 
an excellent roadway as long as it is not broken. Once the crust is crushed, 
however, the wheels of vehicles sink into the soft silt beneath, and deep ruts 
with high centers between them are soon formed. This condition has led to 
a multiplicity of tracks across these flats, for as fast as one set becomes too 
deeply worn another is started. The traveler will have to use his judgment 
in picking out the one to follow. If his car is lightly laden, it may be wise 
to abandon the tracks entirely and run on the crust. In wet weather it is 
difficult but usually not impossible to cross these flats. 

Just before the Bear Hills are reached the road from Twentymile Well and 
the Shamrock mine comes in. Twentymile Well is. 2.6 miles southeast of this 
point, and in an emergency water can be obtained there, but no provision is 
made for travelers. 

The road passes through the outlying hills and crosses an inclosed valley 
where creosote, ironwood, and palo verde afford a welcome relief from the 
utter barrenness and desolation of the adobe flats. Then the steep ascent of 
the Plomosa Mountains is commenced. The road is passable in all kinds of 
weather but is steep, has several curves, and is very rough, even for an 
Arizona mountain road. (For a description of the Plomosa Mountains see 
p. 184.) 

The old Guadalupe mine is passed on the left near the summit of the moun¬ 
tains. This mine or prospect has been shut down for a number of years. 
Some rich gold ore is reported to have been found here, and even noTV a search 
of the dumps about the open cuts reveals flakes of gold in some of the quartz 
fragments. From this point the road descends, flanked by basalt mountains 
and buttes, to La Posa Plain and crosses the valley to Quartzsite. 

The road between Bouse and the Plomosa mine joins the Vicksburg-Quartzsite 
road from the north a short distance west of the Plomosa Mountains, and a 
little farther on it leads off southward to the Plomosa mine, which can be seen 
on the flank of the mountains from which it gets its name. This is a placer 
gold property, the largest in the vicinity, and has been worked intermittently 
for a long time. There are Geological Survey signs at the points where the 
Plomosa road joins and leaves that between Vicksburg and Quartzsite. Another 


182 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Geological Survey sign at Tyson’s Well, on the outskirts of Quartzsite, should 
remove any doubt the traveler may have as to which of the crossroads to take. 

In the boom days of placer and quartz mining in the Dome Rock and 
Plomosa mountains Quartzsite was a lively place, with a number of stores and 
saloons. It is still the center for the prospecting that is being done in the 
vicinity, but there is much less activity now than formerly. The cattlemen who 
have stock on La Posa Plain made their headquarters in the town, and small 
tracts of land are irrigated here and near by. 

Quartzsite consists very largely of adobe houses, many of which are deserted, 
but contains also several wooden houses of more recent construction. The 
census of 1910 credits the town with 300 inhabitants; in 1920 the precinct had 
117. There is a store and post office here and a hotel. No automobile supplies 
are obtainable. Mail is brought in and taken out by the daily automobile stage 
from Bouse. Good water can be obtained from several wells. Curiously enough 
the town has a swimming pool, which is popular in the summer. This is a con¬ 
crete tank, originally intended as a reservoir from which to supply placer 
workings. Insufficient water was obtained by the wells put down for this 
purpose, but enough is available to make the tank serviceable as a swimming 
pool. 

Quartzsite is still an important point in this portion of the country, because 
of the numerous roads that radiate from it. The road to Ehrenberg Ferry 
leads west, that to Bouse northeast, and that to Vicksburg east. To the south 
are the road to Castle Dome, Dome, and Yuma, the only practicable road in 
Arizona by which Cibola can be reached, and the road to New Water Pass. 
Cibola is a small town on Colorado River where there is some irrigation, but the 
principal industry is raising bees for honey. In 1920 Cibola precinct had 19 
inhabitants. The road to New Water Pass is used by prospectors. A burro 
trail extends from this pass to Alamo Spring, but it is reported that there is no 
practicable automobile road. More or less prospecting is still going on in the 
Dome Rock Mountains, and the prospectors make their headquarters in Quartz¬ 
site. They follow one of the main roads out of town, then leave it at con¬ 
venient places to reach their prospects in the mountains. More work on these 
prospects and small mines is done in winter than in summer, because of the 
summer heat. In consequence a traveler using one of the main roads in the 
winter will find more freshly made tracks branching off to one side or the 
other than he would find in summer and must guard against going astray by 
following such tracks. This precaution is necessary in any part of this region 
where prospecting is going on, but usually there is no difficulty if a little care 
is used in determining which is the correct road to take. 

The table that gives data on wells in La Posa Plain (p. 220) shows that 
water can be obtained here at comparatively slight depths, but the quantity 
so far developed is small. Placer miners put down some deep wells in this 
vicinity some years ago, with results that are said to have been favorable, 
but the records of these wells are not available. Mr. Weber is reported to 
be irrigating 6 or 7 acres about 1J miles northwest of Quartzsite from a well 
only 16 feet deep. All the wells regarding which information was obtained 
extend to a hard caliche. Perhaps the presence of this impermeable material 
accounts for the slight depth at which water is found. Gravel cemented with 
caliche is found in many places near the mountains surrounding La Posa 
Plain. Doc Clark’s deep well in the southern part of the plain passed through 
a hard material that was probably of this character and encountered no water 
below it. In this connection Bancroft’s statements 3 regarding conditions in 

8 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, p. 88, 1911. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


183 


the vicinity of the placer workings of the New York-IMomosa Co. are interest¬ 
ing. He says: 

In certain old drainage channels which led away from the southwestern 
part of the Plomosa Mountains is found an auriferous conglomerate of granite, 
schist, and quartz fragments cemented by lime carbonate. In thickness this 
conglomerate or “ cement rock ” varies from a few inches to a great many 
feet, the depth depending largely on the shape and size of the formerly exist¬ 
ing channels. It is certain that placer gold occurs in this cement rock, but no 
data of the average tenor or the probable cost of working could be obtained. 
It was evidently the intention of the company to work the cemented material 
in mills. The quartz veins in the mountains close at hand art thought to be a 
reasonable source of origin for the gold found in the placers. 

Jones 4 writes as follows regarding the placer ground on the east side of 
the Dome Rock Mountains: 

At the time the region was visited the Orofino tract, owned by the Catalina 
Gold Mining Co., was the only one on which work was being done, and this 
work consisted of testing the ground, partly to determine its gold content and 
partly to determine the advisability of working the wash with dry concen¬ 
trating machines of large capacity. The following information was obtained on 
the ground, the data as to the gold content and like matters being supplied 
ny Mr. E. L. Dufourcq, the engineer in charge. The placer ground owned by 
this company comprises 640 acres of land, in which test holes were sunk 
every few hundred feet. The holes ranged in depth from a few feet to 30 
feet. The material taken, from each excavation was run through a small con¬ 
centrator to determine its gold content, and the results showed that the gold 
content ranges from a few cents to over $1 per cubic yard, the average being 
38 cents. The colors run from less than 1 cent to 24 cents each, and the gold 
is tine, being worth about $19 an ounce. The gold-bearing material differs 
from that of the La Paz placers in that it consists of unconsolidated rock 
debris and an underlying cemented gravel. The loose material ranges in depth 
from a few feet to 12 feet, and the cement is of variable depth—at least 18 
feet in places. The gold is said to be distributed through both the unconsoli¬ 
dated and the cemented material. 

It is possible that this widespread occurrence of cemented gravel with uncon¬ 
solidated wash above it may have an important geologic significance. It 
strongly suggests that the valley fill in La Posa Plain may have been deposited 
at two distinct periods and that it is the older fill which is now partly consoli¬ 
dated, the younger being as yet unconsolidated. 

BOUSE TO QUARTZSITE. 

[For log see pp. 143-144.] 

For a long time the only way to reach Quartzsite from points farther north 
in Arizona was over the stage road by way of Desert Well. When the Santa 
Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad was built the freight to and from Quartzsite 
passed through Vicksburg. About 1910 a mining engineer on a trip from 
Bouse to examine a prospect in the Plomosa Mountains discovered an easy 
pass through these mountains about 10 miles south of Bouse, and subsequently 
a road was built from Bouse to Quartzsite through this pass with money 
furnished in part by citizens of Bouse and in part by the county. This road 
is 6 miles shorter than the road from Vicksburg to Quartzsite, avoids the adobe 
fiat near Desert Well, and is not nearly so rough where it goes through the 
mountains. There are no watering places on it, but as it is only 24 miles long 
this is not a serious disadvantage. 


pp. 


.Tones, E. L., 
52-53, 1916. 


jr., Gold deposits near Quartzsite, Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 620, 




] 84 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Just beyond Bouse Wash, on the outskirts of Bouse, there is a stretch of 
adobe soil where the road may be a little cut up, but this road in general is 
not in bad condition. It is said that part of the adobe can be avoided by taking 
the road to the right (the Parker road) at the fork marked by the United 
States Geological Survey sign, 0.2 mile from the railroad station, continuing 
on this road for about half a mile to the next Geological Survey sign, and 
then turning sharply to the left, as indicated by the sign. There is probably 
little choice between these two ways of leaving Bouse for Quartzslte. Beyond 
the adobe there is a good plains road as far as the mountains. The forks of 
the road where doubt may arise are marked by Geological Survey signs. The 
road goes through the mountains by a low and easy pass, running for much 
of the distance in the bed of a wash. At the southwest border of the mountains 
is a fork marked by a Geological Survey sign. From this point to Quartzsite 
there is a very good plains road. 

The Plomosa Mountains are a complex range consisting chiefly of meta- 
morphic rocks of probable pre-Cambrian age. Near the Little Butte mine, 
at the extreme north end of the range, and possibly elsewhere, are lime¬ 
stones lithologically similar to those at the Socorro mine, in the Harquahala 
Mountains, and hence probably Paleozoic. (See p. 176.) Lavas, fine-grained 
intrusive rocks, and Tertiary sedimentary rocks are found in a number of 
places in the Plomosa Mountains. In the southern part of the range many of 
the peaks are capped by thick flows of Pleistocene olivine basalt. The buttes 
of red conglomerate of probable Tertiary age about 7 miles southwest of 
Bouse are conspicuous from the Bouse-Quartzsite road. In the pass by which 
this road traverses the mountains are some dikes of chalky white porphyritic 
soda rhyolite or quartz-soda trachyte. 

Deposits of gold, copper, lead, and iron are known in the Plomosa Moun¬ 
tains, but no large mines have been developed. The gold placers on the 
slopes of the range have received considerable attention. The New York- 
Plomosa Co. in particular has done much work here. It has recently in¬ 
stalled new dry-washing machinery. The placers and many of the bedrock 
deposits have been described by Bancroft. 8 

QUARTZSITE TO EHRENBERG. 

LFor log see pp. 144-145.] 

The road from Quartzsite to Ehrenberg Ferry goes west from Quartzsite 
through the Dome Rock Mountains, passes down the alluvial plain west of 
them, and then goes southwest over the flood plain of Colorado River to 
Ehrenberg Ferry. Through the mountains the road is rough, but the grades 
are not excessive. It follows the gravel beds of washes for short distances in 
several places, but in December, 1917, all portions of it were easily passable. 
There are United States Geological Survey signs at some of the road forks. 

Gonzales Wells, 9 miles from Quartzsite, is the only watering place on the 
road. There are two dug wells here, one of which is provided with a rope 
and buckets by means of which water of fair quality can be obtained. 

West of Gonzales Wells there are two forks that are not marked by Geo¬ 
logical Survey signs. These are mentioned in the log, and both are so faint 
that they are readily distinguishable from the main road. The road across 
the alluvial plain west of the mountains is good; that across the river flood 


■ Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
ArlE.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, pp. 87-95, 1911. 




U. a. <i EOLOCK'AI, SURVEY 


WATER-SUI’ll.Y PAPER 498 PLATE XXI 



A. FINELY BEDDED LIMESTONE WITH OVERLYING BASALT 
AT BORDER OF BUCKSKIN MOUNTAINS ABOUT 12 MILES 
EAST OF PARKER. 


Photograph by O. E. Meinzer. 



B. SCARP ON NORTH SIDE OF BLACK BUTTE, CACTUS PLAIN. 
From Parker road, looking north. Photograph by O. E. Meinzer. 




U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAFER 498 PLATE XXII 



A. DESERT WELL, ABOUT 5 MILES FROM VICKSBURG, FROM THE EAST 


B. EHRENBERG FERRY FROM ARIZONA BANK OF COLORADO RIVER 


Showing automobile being ferried across 


C. GONZALES WELLS, DOME ROCK MOUNTAINS. 


















U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE XXIII 



A. HORSE TANKS, CASTLE DOME MOUNTAINS. 



B/GAP BETWEEN CLANTON HILLS AND GILA REND MOUNTAINS THROUGH 

WHICH HARQUAHALA ROAD PASSES. 


From Clanton’s Well, looking southwest. 






















■a* 



























1 





DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


185 


plain is sandy, but little difficulty is likely to be experienced in traversing 
It. Soon after reaching the flood plain at a point about 2 miles from the 
ferry the traveler passes a reverse fork, from which a road leads up the 
river past the abandoned town of La Paz to Parker. This road is poor but 
passable. Between La Paz and Parker there are several roads along the 
river. The route to follow must be left to the discretion of the traveler. 
Water can be obtained from sloughs in the river flood plain. The La Paz 
Gold Mining Co., which has a mine in the Dome Rock Mountains, started in 
December, 1917, to drill for water at La Paz. If these efforts are successful, 
they will furnish a good watering place on this road. 

The Dome Rock Mountains, which lie between La Posa Plain and Colorado 
River, are a rugged range rising 3,000 feet or more above the sea. North 
of them are some detached groups of hills; to the south are the Chocolate 
and Trigo mountains, about which little is known. 

The Dome Rock Mountains are composed chiefly of pre-Cambrian gneiss 
and schist, but they also contain granite of probable Mesozoic age 0 and several 
intrusive masses of fine-grained acidic rocks, which are probably of about the 
same age as the Tertiary lavas. 

The gold placers on both the eastern and western slopes of these mountains 
have long been famous. The lack of water and the fineness of much of the 
gold have interfered seriously with the development of these deposits, and only 
desultory small-scale work is going on at present. Placer mining began in this 
district with the discovery of the La Paz diggings by Capt. Pauline Weaver 1 
in 1862. La Paz and Ehrenberg, a few miles south of it, both on Colorado 
River, were flourishing towns during the boom days of the placers. The county 
seat was at La Paz until 1S71, 8 * when it was moved to Yuma. According to 
Jones 8 La Paz maintained a population of 1,500 until 1864, when, with the 
apparent exhaustion of the placers and the discovery of new diggings in other 
districts, large numbers left it. From that time the population steadily 
decreased, and with the additions to the Colorado River Indian Reservation in 
1873, 1874, and 1876, which included much of the placer ground and greatly 
restricted mining, La Paz became practically deserted. At present there are 
only some crumbling adobe buildings to mark the site of the once prosperous 
town. Ehrenberg, at first called Mineral City, was founded in 1863 10 and 
flourished with the decay of La Paz, but it lost prominence when the railroad 
was built to Yuma in 1877. At present no one lives at the site of the old town, 
but the name is kept alive by the Ehrenberg Ferry. 

Lode mining as well as placer mining has been done in the Dome Rock 
Mountains, but no mines of much importance have been developed. Deposits 
of gold, copper, and mercury occur here, and some of the prospects are 
described by Bancroft. 11 

8 Jones, E. L., jr., Gold deposits near Quartzsite, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 620, 
p. 48, 1916. 

7 Idem, p. 49. 

8 Bancroft, H. H., A history of Arizona and New Mexico, p. 616, San Francisco. 

6 Jones, E. L., jr., op. cit., p. 49. 

10 Bancroft, H. EL, op. cit., p. 616. 

11 Bancroft, I-Iowland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, pp. 78-86, 1911. 



186 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


QUARTZSITE TO DOME. 

[For log see pp. 146-150.] 

The road south from Quartzsite forms a convenient means of getting from 
the northern to the southern part of Yuma County. It is more used for this 
purpose than the Harquahala road, farther east. Dome is only 20 miles from 
Yuma, the county seat and metropolis. As a whole, the road is good, although 
there are some rough stretches in it. 

Roads across La Posa Plain .—There are two roads across La Posa Plain, 
the old one and that constructed in 1917 by the county. The new road is soft 
in places but will probably prove the better road when it has been used a little- 
longer. It has been marked with signs by the United States Geological Survey 
and more recently by Yuma County. The county had just started on its work 
when the field work of the Geological Survey ended, and hence the locations 
of the county signs can not be given. They are wooden posts and signs, painted 
white, with the names and distances in black. Signs were placed on the- 
southern half of this road by the B. F. Goodrich Co. some years ago, when 
it was a part of the direct route between Yuma and Phoenix. (See p. 161.) 

The old road across La Posa Plain is often recommended by local people. 
It is slightly less rough than the new one, but there is really little choice be¬ 
tween them in that respect. The distances do not differ much. The old road 
is not marked with signs, however, and as there are a number of branches from 
it the chances of getting off it are greater. Many of the branch roads lead 
into the Dome Rock Mountains, where it is easy to get lost. Several parties 
have been lost in this way. This road is therefore not recommended to 
strangers. However, the log of it on pages 147 and 150 and the description on 
page 187 should prove of service to anyone traveling it for the first time. As 
already stated, this road is a portion of the only route in Arizona to the town 
of Cibola, on Colorado River. 

The new road crosses a number of washes, some of which have rather steep 
banks. Some of the stretches of adobe soil are soft, and the road across them 
may be somewhat cut up. The comparative abundance of vegetation on this 
plain is in pleasant contrast with its absence from many valleys in this region. 
Palo verde and ironwood line the numerous washes, and there are a number 
of small tracts where the galleta and other grasses grow luxuriantly. Some 
cattle now range here, and many more would be able to do so if sufficient water 
was available. Except for the wells at Quartzsite and that belonging tn 
Kuhn & Hagley near the old road 6 miles south of Quartzsite there are no 
watering places for cattle on this plain. 

Near the south end of the plain, 26 miles from Quartzsite, a derrick to the 
west of the road marks the place where Doc Clark made an attempt to find 
water. Pie encountered small amounts at depths of 100 and 150 feet, but not 
enough for his purpose. The well was down about 700 feet and was dry when 
he suspended operations, but he expected to resume work at an early date. 

About 21 miles south of the Clark dry well, at the east end of a group of 
small rocky hills, there is a stone cabin which is about half a mile west of the 
l oad where it turns to enter the Castle Dome Mountains and is a well-known 
landmark. At one time the road went by this cabin and through a pass between 
the Castle Dome and Chocolate mountains to Castle Dome, but this is now 
abandoned. 

The old road south from Quartzsite follows the border of the Dome Rock 
Mountains more closely than the new one. The road to Dome does not enter 
any mountains until it reaches the Castle Dome Mountains, nearly 30 miles. 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


187 


from Quartzsite. Consequently, if a traveler bound to Dome on the old road 
finds himself entering mountains soon after leaving Quartzsite he may know 
that he has made a wrong turn and should retrace his course. As noted in the 
log of this road (p. 147) there are three places on it where in an emergency 
it is possible to get water. In this respect the old road has an advantage over 
the new one. 

The road to Cibola was not traveled beyond the wash containing sand tanks 
mentioned in the log, and little is known about it. The road is reported to be 
rough but practicable, and it was to be improved and its alinement somewhat 
changed by the county. The road to Ehrenberg from the wash above referred 
to is almost impassable. 

/S'. H. Mountains .—The S. H. Mountains were not visited during this investiga¬ 
tion. They were observed only from the road between Quartzsite and Dome at 
a distance of several miles to the east. Consequently the boundaries and extent 
of the range are not definitely known. Their general trend is northwest. 
They are separated from the Plomosa Mountains by New Water Pass, and from 
the Castle Djme Mountains by a broad pass dotted with buttes and hills. 
Nothing is known about the southeastern extremity of the range except that 
the White Tank (Tank) and Palomas ranges are situated near it. Whether the 
Tank Mountains are distinctly separated from the S. H. Mountains or are an 
extension of that range is not known. Probably there is no very wide pass be¬ 
tween the two ranges. The S. H. Mountains are called the Kofa Mountains by 
Jones, after the mining settlement of Kofa, but the name S. H. is much better 
known. 

The King of Arizona and North Star mines (pp. 161-162) are in these moun¬ 
tains. The following notes on the geology of the range are based on the 
report by Jones,“ who studied the deposits at these mines and others near 
Ocotillo, on the north side of the range, and on field observations made (Turing 
the present investigation. The mountains contain extrusive igneous rocks 
resting on an eroded surface of much older rocks. The extrusive rocks are 
intricately dissected into small flat-topped mesas, jagged spires, and other 
fantastic forms. They comprise rhyolite and andesite, with accompanying 
tuff, breccia, and local thin beds of grits overlain by olivine basalt. Olivine is 
a sparse constituent of the andesite also but becomes more abundant toward 
the top of the series. This indicates a close relation and possibly a gradation 
in composition between the andesite and the overlying basalt. Jones gives 
the probable thickness of the series of volcanic rocks as 2,000 feet, which is 
certainly a moderate estimate. He says that in places the basalt flows are 
300 feet or more thick. Some of the more acidic lava flows in the western 
part of the range are even thicker than this. The lava series rests on a base¬ 
ment of highly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks with associated pegmatite 
dikes of probable pre-Cambrian age. These ancient rocks are intruded by 
granite and by diorite and monzonite porphyry dikes that are probably Mesozoic. 

Castle Dome Mountains .—The Castle Dome Mountains, which are entered 
about 30 miles south of Quartzsite, are carved into weird and fantastic forms, 
and the scenery in some parts of them is both impressive and beautiful. The 
first pass through them going southward is low and presents no difficulties. 
On leaving it the road enters a small valley cut by several washes and bordered 
on the west and south by the main range of mountains and on the east and 
north by hills. In this valley several roads branch off to the Horse Tanks, 
a well-known watering place for cattle as well as for travelers. Water can 

12 Jones, E. L., jr., A reconnaissance in the Kofa Mountains, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey- 
Bull. 620, pp. 151-1G4, 1916. 



188 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


always be obtained here, but it may often be difficult to get any clean enough 
to invite drinking. Tanks are reported to occur for some distance up the 
canyon above the big ones reached by the road, and it is probable that those 
farthest upstream will be found to be the cleanest. The roads to these tanks 
from the main road are rough but entirely practicable. 

The main Quartzsite-Dome road crosses into the interior valley, passes out 
through the encircling hills, and then skirts the east side of the mountains for 
4 miles. This stretch is a good plains road. At the point where the road 
again enters the mountains it is joined by the road from Deep Well on the 
west. This fork is marked by a United States Geological Survey sign. From 
this point the road follows the old road from Phoenix by way of Deep Well 
and Palomas to Yuma. It goes through the mountains for nearly 5 mrles, then 
skirts them for about 4 miles more to Castle Dome. In the mountains the 
road is rough and some of the grades are steep. The first portion of this 
stretch is in the gravel bed of a wash. A car in poor condition might have 
trouble here or on some of the steeper grades, but the road is traveled con¬ 
stantly and little or no trouble is experienced. There are two sets of natural 
rock tanks near this road where water can be obtained. 

The Castle Dome Mountains form an irregular-shaped range with general 
north-south trend, about 30 miles long and somewhat more than 7 miles wide 
at the widest place. Geologically they are similar to the S. H. Mountains, 
described on page 187, except that they contain no Mesozoic intrusive rocks, 
so far as known. The exposures of pre-Cambrian schist are very scanty, being 
observed during the present investigation only in the vicinity of the Thumb 
Butte mine, in the southern part of the range. There is great diversity in 
the composition of the lavas. Hills of basalt occur at the south end, and this 
rock may be sparingly present elsewhere in the mountains, but most of the 
lavas are acidic. The prevalent colors are brown, yellow, gray, and cream. 
Considerable yellow tuff occurs. Some dark coffee-colored obsidian was noted. 
Fine-grained intrusive rocks cut the lavas in numerous places. The rocks have 
been faulted, probably to a marked extent. 

The forms produced by the erosion of these lava flows are striking and pic¬ 
turesque in the extreme. Sheer cliffs are the rule. The impression conveyed 
by a casual glance in many places is that of a mass of angular blocks thrown 
together in confusion. Elsewhere sharp-pointed peaks and fantastic knobs cut 
the sky line. 

Castle Dome is the dominant peak of the range and is a very prominent land¬ 
mark, visible for many miles. It is a knob carved from a thick lava flow with 
vertical columnar jointing. This mountain was originally and rather more 
appropriately called Capitol Dome 13 by the officers at Fort Yuma in 1853, from 
its fancied resemblance to the dome of the Capitol at Washington. 

The Castle Dome Mountains have been prospected without success except in 
a few localities, the only important one of which is the Castle Dome mining 
district, at and near Castle Dome. The largest mine in the district, reported 
to be more than 600 feet deep, is passed on the road from Quartzsite immedi¬ 
ately before reaching the group of wooden houses that constituted the settle¬ 
ment. The place is now deserted except for a caretaker and his family, who 
are usually to be found there, but a few prospectors live in the hills near by. 
The 1020 census gives the population of the precinct as 22. There has been 
some talk of reopening the Castle Dome mine, but nothing definite had been 
done in this direction when the place was last visited, in January, 1918. Water 

13 Blake, W. P., Report of the Territorial geologist, in Report of the governor of Arizona, 

1S99, p. 106. 




DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


189 


is pumped from the mine by the caretaker into a tank near the shaft and is 
piped from the tank to some of the houses. Much of this piping is now out 
of order, and the tank is none too clean. 

The following notes on the district are abstracted from Blake’s report. 14 
The veins may be said to have been rediscovered in 1863, as there are evidences 
that they had previously been worked either by the ancient inhabitants of the 
country or by early Spanish explorers. After their rediscovery they were 
worked continuously for a number of years and yielded considerable lead-silver 
ore. The ore is galena, and the principal gangue mineral is fluorite. The 
rocks of the district are compact fine-grained mica and clay slates traversed 
by numerous dikes or intrusive mases of a chocolate-colored porphyry. Por- 
phyritic felsite was noted during the present investigation, but the sedimentary 
rocks were not seen. They doubtless belong to the pre-Cambrian schist, which 
is known to underlie the lavas. 

Chocolate Mountains .—Between the Castle Dome and Trigo mountains is a 
little-hnown range called the Chocolate Mountains. This should not be con¬ 
fused with the range of the same name in California northwest of Yuma. 
The range is separated from the Castle Dome Mountains by a pass, according 
to the reports of those who have traversed the old road that once ran through 
this pass, but no break can be seen from any point on the present road. The 
mountains are composed largely of pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks, but more 
recent lavas are present in places. 

The Free Gold group of prospects in these mountains is described by W. P. 
Pdake, 18 who says that at the time he wrote a well-defined vein carrying free- 
milling gold ore was being developed on a number of claims and that an aver¬ 
age mill rock running $30 to the ton could be mined. 

Castle Dome to Dome .—From Castle Dome to Gila River there is an excellent 
plains road. All forks at which any doubt is likely to arise are marked by 
United States Geological Survey signs. Numerous washes are crossed, but 
these are not likely to give trouble. The only one that might possibly do so, 
because of the steepness of the ascent out of it, can be avoided by taking the 
left-hand road at the fork 20.5 miles from Castle Dome. (See log, p. 147.) 

During a large part of the year the amount of water in Gila River where 
this road crosses is negligible, and often no water whatever is encountered in 
the road. The flood plain here is, however, so sandy that there may be difficulty 
in crossing, although usually there is little trouble. A Mexican who lives near 
Dome uses flatboats to ferry vehicles across the river when there is too much 
water to ford. He wades in the water, pushing the boat in front of him. In 
times of flood it is impossible to cross here. 

The course followed by the road changes frequently because of changes made 
by the river, and consequently a number of sets of tracks will be noted. Those 
which appear to have been most traveled recently should be followed. No 
difficulty is likely to be encountered in finding the road across the river going 
south. In going north from Dome, however, it is possible to get on a set of 
tracks leading to some Mexican adobe houses downstream from the road on the 
north bank of the river. Some buildings and a windmill at the point where the 
road leaves the flood plain will serve as a landmark. 

The extensive Castle Dome Plain, north of Gila River near Dome, is strewn 
with gravel, and except along the washes has but little vegetation. The soil 
for the most part is hard-packed adobe mixed with gravel. Little or none of 
it is free from gravel, and consequently it is not well adapted to agriculture. 


14 Blake, W. P., op. cit., pp. 10G—107. 

16 Report of the governor of Arizona, 1899, pp. 61-62. 



190 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Probably this fact and the comparative scarcity of native grasses accounts for 
the total lack of wells in this plain. There are a few shallow dug wells on the 
flood plain of the river but none on Castle Dome Plain. 

The plain is crossed by numerous large gravelly or sandy washes that form 
braided patterns. Consequently the roads cross washes at short intervals. 
The gravel bottoms of the washes are fairly firm, so that no difficulty is 
encountered in crossing them. Their banks are nowhere high, and on the main 
road several of the steepest have been cut down to easy grades. Near the 
south end of Castle Dome Plain the flats occupied by the washes lie between 
terraces which in some places are more than 20 feet high. These flats are in 
places fully half a mile wide. They are covered with a luxuriant growth of 
ironwood and a subordinate amount of palo verde and other bushes. 

A range of low hills and buttes west of the road between Castle Dome and 
Dome extends from north to south through the center of the plain. This range 
is composed in part of recent basalt, especially near the southern extremity, 
but is believed to contain ancient metamorphic rocks also. The region farther 
west was not visited, but the range appears to be narrow, and the plain evi¬ 
dently continues west of it to the hills bordering Colorado River. These hills 
and the Trigo Mountains north of them were also not visited, and little is 
known about them. From a distance the Trigo Mountains appear to be built, 
up largely of lavas, probably of Tertiary age. The range has many sharp and 
jagged peaks. 

The Laguna Range, at the southwest border of the Castle Dome Plain, and the 
Muggins Mountains, at the southeast border, are both composed for the most 
part of pre-Cambrian metamorphic rock, chiefly granitic gneiss. Small amounts 
of the more recent lavas occur in both ranges. 

PALOMAS TO SALOME. 

[For log see pp. 150-151.] 

The old road between Palomas and Salome by way of Harquahala is now 
rarely used except by a few State and county officials, who find it a convenient 
route northward from the Palomas and Mohawk valleys. Probably less than 
half a dozen automobiles pass over it in a. year. In the days before the Arizona 
& California Railroad (now the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) was built 
freight between the Harquahala mine and Aztec, on the Southern Pacific Rail¬ 
road, 7 miles south of Palomas, passed over this road. In consequence the road 
is still commonly spoken of as the Harquahala freight road. It is reported to 
have been excellent when in regular use, and even now it is better than the 
average unimproved road in this part of Arizona. 

The country traversed by this road is one of the most uninhabited portions 
of the lower Gila region. Between Palomas and Harquahala no habitations 
except the cattleman’s shanty at Clanton’s Well are seen. Some parts of the 
region are being utilized as cattle ranges, and the number of cattle will doubt¬ 
less increase as more wells are drilled. The prospects for agriculture do not 
appear to be bright, at least for the present. Ground water is deep, and the 
soil contains much gravel and caliche. Considerable prospecting has been done, 
but except for the deposits in the Little Harquahala Mountains (see p. 171) 
nothing of value has been found. 

Palomas to Freighter Well .—The route follows the main Phoenix-Yuma high¬ 
way for 2.7 miles north from Palomas. This stretch of road is on the silty 
flood plain of the Gila and is consequently rough. About a mile out of Palomas 
several tracks swing to the east (right) and lead to Agua Caliente by the old 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


191 


road, but these should be avoided. At about the point where the road leaves 
the flood plain it forks. The right fork leads to Agua Caliente and Phoenix. 
The road straight ahead leads to Harquahala. From this fork the road winds 
for more than 20 miles over the gravel surface of the desert and crosses several 
washes. In the fall of 1917 these washes presented no difficulties, but they 
should be approached with a certain amount of caution. No attempt is made to 
keep this road in repair, so that should the road be washed out by some flood 
the damage done is not likely to be remedied for a long time. 

The Palomas Plain has a fairly steep gradient as it ascends toward the 
mountains. It is composed of gravel mixed with finer material. The vegetation 
is of the usual types; creosote bushes predominate, but palo verde lines the 
washes. A little mesquite was noted in a wash near the river. Several lava- 
capped buttes are scattered over the plain. 

To the west are the Palomas Mountains and other small and irregular ranges, 
at the eastern extremities of which are lava-capped mountains and mesas. 
Farther west the lavas give place to the older crystalline rocks, and there is 
n corresponding increase in the jaggedness of the topographic forms. East and 
northeast of the road are the Gila Bend Mountains. 

At 25 miles from Palomas the road enters a narrow gap between the Gila 
Bend Mountains and some hills to the west of them. Immediately after passing 
through this gap into the valley beyond a fork is reached, where there is a 
Geological Survey signpost; A little to the north is an old dug well, now caved 
and dry. This is known as the Nottbusch or Freighter Well and was the only 
reliable watering place between Palomas and Harquahala in the days when the 
freight teams used this road. A supply of good water, ample for the teamsters’ 
needs, is reported to have been obtained from it. (See p. 208.) 

The Harquahala road turns sharply to the west at the fork. A recently made 
and less well-marked road leads northwest to a mining camp. The road that 
comes in from the east at this point is one recently made by Mr. J. E. Clanton 
and his associates in the cattle business. This road follows the Harquahala 
road west for a short distance, but where the latter turns in a more northerly 
direction the new road leaves and continues west to Hoodoo Wells and Alamo 
Tank. At the point where it leaves the main road it is so comparatively faint 
and obviously more recent that no difficulty will be found in distinguishing it 
from the old freight road. On this new road, 0.6 mile east of the fork at the 
dry well, is a well recently put down by Mr. Clanton. Drinking water can 
usually be obtained here, although no large supply of water is kept on hand. 

Freighter Well to Harquahala .—On leaving the fork at the old Freighter Well 
the road crosses Nottbusch Valley in a general north-northwesterly direction. 
This valley is about 12 miles long by 4 miles wide and is almost entirely 
inclosed by hills and mountains. The*only outlet for its drainage is the gap 
through which the road from Palomas enters it. Here four good-sized washes 
unite into one to pass through the breach in the wall of hills. This large wash 
does not maintain its individuality far beyond the gap, but breaks up into a 
series of smaller ones. Drainage from the small valley that lies immediately 
north of Nottbusch Valley enters it through the sinuous canyon nearly 2 miles 
long in the northern hills. This canyon separates the Little Horn Mountains, 
west of Nottbusch Valley, from the Cemetery Hills, east of it, and is the canyon 
utilized by the Harquahala road in passing north out of the valley. 

The alluvial fill of the valley is not deep. Clanton’s Well entered bedrock at 
a depth of 30 feet, but nearer the center of the valley the fill is doubtless some¬ 
what thicker. It is much finer than that in the plain to the south of the gap. 
The surface material throughout much of the valley is fine gravel and silt 
mixed with abundant caliche. The presence of this caliche is the reason why 


192 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


the road across this valley is still in good condition, although no repairs have 
been made on it for many years. 

The Clanton Hills are south of Nottbusch Valley and west of the gap through 
which the road enters the valley from the south. They are about 5 miles long 
and li miles wide at the widest place and have a maximum altitude of less 
than 500 feet above the plain. They consist almost exclusively of flat-lying 
gray cherty fine-grained limestone with numerous concretions, some of which 
resemble fossils in superficial appearance. There are considerable breccia and 
some faults in the limestone. Subsequent to the faulting hot solutions circu¬ 
lated through the fault breccias, as is shown by iron stains and by marked 
silicification of the limestone fragments. No definite evidence of valuable 
mineralization w r as found. At the east end of the hills is exposed a bed of 
reddish quartzose sandstone, about 30 feet thick. At the w r est end of the hills 
and scattered over the plain south of them are a number of buttes of basaltic 
lava of Pleistocene or late Tertiary age. 

That portion of the Gila Bend Mountains that lies east of the Clanton Hills 
and forms the southern border of Nottbusch Valley is composed largely of 
Tertiary rocks of volcanic origin. The abundance of yellowish and cream- 
colored tuff testifies to the explosive violence of the ancient volcanoes. The 
mountains that form the southeast boundary of the valley also belong to this- 
range. Some of them are basalt buttes, but most were carved from granite and 
similar rocks. 

West and nortlnvest of the valley are the Little Horn Mountains, whose 
steep and somber fronts loom above it in impressive dignity. They are com¬ 
posed principally of Tertiary lava, tuff, and sedimentary rocks, and the basal 
crystalline complex crops out in some of the washes. Extending east from 
these mountains and separated from them by the sinuous canyon already 
mentioned are the Cemetery Hills, a range of hills and buttes composed of simi¬ 
lar rocks. 

Near the upper end of Nottbusch Valley the road is in places very indis¬ 
tinct, and some care is required to avoid getting off it. The road passes to 
the east of a prominent and somewhat isolated lava butte and enters the canyon 
by which it passes through the mountainous northern border of the valley. 
In this canyon the road is in a gravel-bottomed wash for the greater part of 
a mile. Some difficulty may be experienced in traversing this stretch, espe¬ 
cially if there has been no recent travel to break and pack a track. A natural 
tank, called Headman Tank or Road Tank, is reported to occur near the road in 
this w r ash. It w r as dry at the time of visit and w r as not found. Where the 
road leaves the canyon, it enters a small valley similar to Nottbusch Valley 
and skirts the east side of a series of buttes that connect the Little Horn 
and Eagletail mountains. The detrital fill of this valley contains much caliche, 
and consequently the road is good. Bunch grass, salt bush, creosote bush, 
and a few good-sized mesquites w r ere noted. About 2 miles beyond the wash 
and somewhat over 6 miles south of the Eagletail Mountains there is a dry 
dug well, 69 feet deep, on the v T est side of the road. The fantastically carved 
peaks of the Eagletail Mountains are visible for a long distance from the 
south. These mountains are described on page 170. 

North of this valley the road goes through a low T and easy pass in the Eagle¬ 
tail Mountains and then takes a straight course over the Harquahala Plain for 
10 miles until it reaches the southern border of the Little Harquahala Moun¬ 
tains. The plain is described on page 170 and the mountains on page 171. 

At several places on the Harquahala Plain the old freight road has been 
w r orn down into the soft silty soil as much as 2 feet. As the old ruts are now 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


193 


filled with loose sand it is advisable not to try to use the old road. The 
traveler should either follow one of the more recent and lightly marked tracks 
paralleling the old road or else pick out a new way for himself, being careful 
to keep close enough to the old road to avoid any danger of losing the direc¬ 
tion. No difficulty will ordinarily be experienced in doing this except in wet 
weather, when the mud may be troublesome. 

After entefing the Little Harquahala Mountains the road runs along the 
valley of a big wash for 14 miles, crossing the wash at one place, and then 
ascends to the Harquahala mine office and post office. When the mine was in 
active operation there was a town of several hundred people in the valley 
just below it. If the traveler does not desire to visit the mine, by taking one 
of the numerous roads that crisscross in all directions here he can avoid climb¬ 
ing the hill to the office and continue along the valley toward Salome. No diffi¬ 
culty is likely to be encountered in finding the main road northward on the 
other side of the deserted shacks of the old town. 

Harquahala mine .—The Harquahala is one of the best-known mines in the 
old Centennial mining district, now part of the Harcuvar district. The follow¬ 
ing description is taken for the most part from the report by Bancroft. 16 The 
original prospect was located November 14, 1888, by Harry Wharton, Robert 
Stein, and Mike Sullivan. It passed through various hands, and at the time 
of Bancroft’s visit in 1909 it was owned by the Bonanza & Golden Eagle Mining 
Co. and was called the Bonanza mine. The total production of ore from the 
mine when Bancroft wrote amounted to $3,631,000. The altitude of the mine 
is approximately 1,800 feet. Water is obtained by a pipe line 30,000 feet long 
from a well in Harrisburg Valley. The mine equipment consists of two hoists, 
an air compressor, a 40-stamp mill, an engine, four oil-fired double boilers, 
two Blake crushers, and a 5,050-foot tramway connecting the Bonanza mill 
with the Golden Eagle mine, 1 mile north, owned by the same company. This 
tramway is now out of repair. The workings in 1909 consisted of a shaft in¬ 
clined at an angle of approximately 60° and attaining a vertical depth of 205 
feet below the collar and about 7,000 feet of levels, drifts, crosscuts, and 
winzes. 

The ore shoots appear to have occupied shear zones extending through the 
sedimentary series of intercalated limestone, shale, and quartzite which forms 
the country rock of the mine into the basal granite. Bancroft considered that 
the pay portions of the deposit had been largely worked out. When visited 
by the present writer in January, 1918, the mine had been shut down for some 
time but was being unwatered with the intention of resuming operations. The 
basal granite mentioned above is impregnated with pyrite and carries some 
copper. The managers believe that sufficient copper can be developed at depth 
to put this mine once more in the dividend-paying class. 

Harquahala to Salome .—The first 5-mile stretch out from Harquahala is a 
good mountain road. There are many curves, but no excessive grades and no 
bad washes. When traveled in January, 1918, it was in excellent condition, 
having just been repaired by the mining company, which has placed warning 
signs at all points of possible danger on this road. Several roads and trails 
going to prospects in the vicinity and to Harrisburg Valley lead off it, but none 
of them are likely to confuse the traveler. Vegetation is scanty, and the bare 
rocky slopes rise steeply to pointed summits. 

After emerging from the Little Harquahala Mountains the road skirts them 
for a short distance and then heads north to Salome. At a shack on the right 

10 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, pp. 105-108, 1911. 



194 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


there is a well in the field, but it is not used, and no facilities are provided for 
obtaining water. At 8 miles from Harquahala the road passes through the 
ruins of an old adobe house where there is a well and windmill, the property of 
the Harquahala Livestock Co. This is Mesquite Well, an old stage station. 

At the crossing of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway just out of 
Salome several roads come together. A United States Geological Survey sign is 
placed here. The road east along the railway goes to Wenden, Wickenburg, 
and Phoenix (see pp. 140-141) ; that to the southeast goes to Palo Verde and 
Phoenix; and that to the west goes to Vicksburg and Parker (see pp. 165-171). 
A description of the town of Salome is given on pages 169-170. 

WATERING PLACES. 

SCOPE OF DESCRIPTIONS. 

The watering places in the area covered, by this report are 
described below in alphabetic order. The part of the area mapped 
lying south of Gila River is described in reports by Bryan . 17 Some 
wells that are more or less widely separated have been grouped 
together for convenience of description, but only such wells as do 
not constitute watering places for travelers. The wells in each of 
these groups belong either to one owner or to one community. For 
example, although the town of Parker is a watering place, all the 
individual wells in it are not watering places for travelers in the 
ordinary sense of the term. Every watering place is listed sepa¬ 
rately, although a number of such places may be owned by a single 
person or company. In this chapter the available information 
regarding the water at the several places is given. Any other data 
of interest regarding them are given either in the route descrip¬ 
tions or in the sections on history, geology, and other features. Gen¬ 
eral discussions of ground-water conditions in certain areas will be 
found in the route descriptions. 

The data here given are as reliable as it was possible to obtain 
but must be used with discretion, as changes of various kinds may 
have occurred since the examination was made. Figures as to depth 
of wells, etc., are based on direct measurement so far as possible, 
but in many places such measurement was impracticable, and for 
these the most reliable information obtainable is given. 


QUALITY OF WATER. 

The statements in these pages in regard to the quality of water are 
made primarily with reference to its use for drinking by men and 
animals. Some of the statements are based only on the use of the 
waters by the writer and others; a greater number depend on the 
results of anal}-ses. 


17 Bryan, Kirk, Guide to desert watering places in the Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Water-Supply Paper 490-D, 1922 ; The Papago country, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 499 (in preparation). 



WATERING PLACES. 


195 


Nearly all the analyses here presented were made in the water- 
resources laboratory of the United States Geological Survey. In ad¬ 
dition to the figures for constituents in the waters certain computed 
values are given which are helpful in classifying waters for various 
uses. These computations and classifications are discussed at length 
in earlier reports. 18 

Sodium was not determined in all the analyses. A value reported 
as “ calculated ” is the amount which with the calcium and magne¬ 
sium present is chemically equivalent to the acid radicles. 

Total hardness (H) is the calcium carbonate equivalent to the 
total calcium and magnesium and is calculated by the formula 
H=2.5Ca+4.1Mg. 19 

The scale-forming ingredients are assumed to be silica and such 
compounds of calcium and magnesium that the total quantity is 
given by the formula Si0 2 +2.95Ca+1.66Mg. 

The quantity of ingredients that may cause foaming in boilers 
is calculated at 2.7 times the combined quantities of sodium and 
potassium. The alkali coefficient is that proposed by Stabler. 20 He 
assumes that the relative toxicities of sodium as sulphate, chloride, 
and carbonate are 1, 5, and 10, respectively, and that the maximum 
tolerance of sensitive cultures is 1,500 pounds of sodium as sulphate 
in 4 feet of soil over an area of 1 acre. The alkali coefficient (k) 
is the number of inches of water that would yield upon evaporation 
sufficient salts to render a 4-foot depth of soil injurious to the most 
sensitive crops. 

If the quantity of sodium is not more than sufficient to balance 

2 040 

the chloride, k= ^ . If it is more than equivalent to all the 


chloride and not more than equivalent to all the sulphate in ad- 

0 020 

dition, k— c If it is more than equivalent to nil the 

cl | 2*0 C^-L 

chloride and sulphate, *= Na _ 0 . 82C1 _ 0 . 48SO ;• 


Chemical character is expressed by the symbols of the predomi¬ 
nating basic and acid radicles, as Ca (calcium, which includes 
magnesium) or Na (sodium, including potassium), and C0 3 (car¬ 
bonate and bicarbonate), S0 4 (sulphate) or Cl (chloride). 

Standards of quality for domestic use must vary with localities 
and individuals, and any classification will be open to question. 


18 Stabler, Herman, Some stream waters of the western United States, with chapters 
on sediment carried by the Rio Grande and the industrial application of water analyses : 
U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 274, pp. 165-181, 1911. Mendenhall, W. C., 
Dole, R. B., and Stabler, Herman, Ground water in San Joaquin Valley, Calif.: U. S. 
Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 398, pp. 50-82, 1916. 

19 The figures used with chemical symbols in this discussion represent parts per mil- 
'ion of the radicles. 

20 U. S. Geol. Water-Supply Paper 274, p. 179, 1911. 


49417—23-14 







196 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


The following limiting values in parts per million have been taken 
for classification as “ good ” in this report: Hardness, less than 200; 
chloride radicle (Cl), less than 250; sulphate radicle (S0 4 ), less 
than 300; iron (Fe), less than 1.5; carbonate radicle (C0 3 ), equiva¬ 
lent to sum of carbonate and bicarbonate radicles (HC0 3 ), less than 
200; total solids, less than 500. 

Waters with analyses exceeding these limits in any respect have 
been classed as “ fair,” “ poor,” “ bad,” and “ very bad,” according 
to the number and magnitude of the excesses. The classification for 
domestic use may be lower than one that would be made solely 
with reference to drinking. Excellent drinking waters frequently 
are so hard as to be very poor for use in laundry work, and quanti¬ 
ties of iron that are not unpleasant to taste may cause inconvenience 
by staining enameled ware and plumbing fixtures and articles 
washed in the water. 

Classification for boiler use with reference to scale and foaming 
has been based on the table given below. 


Ratings of waters for boiler use. 


Scale-forming constituents. 

Foaming constituents. 

Parts per million. 

Classifica- 

tion.a 

Parts per million. 

Classifi ca¬ 
tion.& 

More 

than— 

Not more 
than— 

More 
than— 

Not more 
than— 


90 

200 

430 

Good. 

Fair. 

Poor. 

Bad. 


150 

250 

400 

Good. 

Fair. 

Bad. 

Very bad. 

90 

200 

430 

150 

250 

400 




a Am. Ry. Eng. and Maintenance of Way Assoc. Proc., vol. 5, p. 595, 1904. 
6 Idem, vol. 9, p. 134, 190S. 


Classification for irrigation is based on the alkali coefficient (k) 
proposed by Stabler and conforms to the limits given by him in 
the following table: 

Classification of irrigation ivaters. a 


Alkali coefficient. 

Class. 

Remarks. 

More than 18. 

18 to 6. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Have been used successfully for many years without special care to 
prevent alkali accumulation. 

Special care to prevent gradual alkali accumulation has generally been 
found necessary except on loose soils with free drainage. 

Care in selection of soils has been found to be imperative and artificial 
diainage has frequently been found necessary. 

Practically valueless for irrigation. 

5.9 to 1.2. 

Poor. 

Less than 1.2. 

Bad. 


a U. S. Geol. Water-Supply Paper 274, p. 179,1911. 


Waters are classified as to mineral content according to the fol¬ 
lowing table: 

















































WATERING PLACES. 


197 


Rating of waters by total solids. 


Total solids (parts 
per million). 

1 

Classifica¬ 

tion. 

More 

than— 

Not more 
than— 

150 

500 

2,000 

150 

500 

2,000 

Low. 

Moderate. 

High. 

Very high. 


DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS. 


Agua Caliente .—A small community in Maricopa County, in sec. 19, T. 5 S., 
R. 10 W., near Gila River, 15 miles east of Palomas, Yuma County. In 
1920 the population of the precinct was 57. The presence of a group of 
hot springs has caused the place to acquire a certain reputation as a health 
resort. Seventeen concrete-walled tanks have been built to receive the water 
from the springs and provide bathing places, and shacks have been erected 
over the tanks. Each tank is provided with a spout to permit it to drain 
freely, and thus to keep clean. If the spout of any of the tanks is stopped up, 
the water level is said to rise a few inches only. Besides these tanks, there 
is a concrete tank about 30 by 60 feet that was intended to be used as a plunge 
or swimming pool but proved to be a failure because not enough water would 
flow into it to provide sufficient depth for swimming, so that it is now aban¬ 
doned. One of the springs has been fitted with a concrete bowl 2J feet in 
diameter and is used exclusively for drinking. This is known as the “ foun¬ 
tain.” The water from all these springs collects in a pond and overflows onto 
the land to the south. This water has been used to some extent for irrigation. 
Water for use in the hotel is pumped by means of a windmill from the springs 
into a storage tank placed above the house. In the pond and plunge pool are 
a number of small fish of rather peculiar appearance. They resemble greenish 
perch and have a maximum length of about 5 inches. 

Besides the springs already mentioned, there is another about a quarter of a 
mile east of them and a short distance south of the schoolhouse. At this spring 
is an old adobe house. The proprietor of Agua Caliente, Althee Modesti, per¬ 
mits the use of the house and spring without charge. The water from these 
springs has no disagreeable taste and is not greatly mineralized. (See 
analysis, p. 198.) The temperature of the water in a number of the tanks was 
read in August, 1917, and is given below. The numbers are those used by the 
proprietor. 


•F. 

Tank No. 1_100 

3 _103. 5 

4 _103.5 

5 _102. 5 

6 _100 

7 _ 99 

8 _100 

9_103 


°F. 

Tank No. 10_104 

12_104 

14 _102 

15 _102. 5 

16 _103 

17 _103 

Fountain_100 


Mud collects in the bottom of the bathing tanks, and mud baths constitute 
a portion of the treatment given. The spring water bubbles up through this 
mud, and this bubbling is especially strong in tank No. 4. 































198 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Analysis and classification of water from Agua Caliente Hot Springs 

[Analyzed by W. P. Blake, Arizona School of Mines, University of Arizona. Parts per 

million except as otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 6 39 

Iron and aluminum oxides (Fe 2 0 3 + 

A1o0 3 )_ 3. 0 

Calcium (Ca)_ 12 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 4.5 

Sodium (Na)_228 

Potassium (K)_ 7.2 

Lithium (Li)_Trace. 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_ 67 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )-151 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_:_194 


Total dissolved solids e _672 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 d - 48 

Scale-forming constituents d - 82 

Foaming constituents d -630 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 6. 3 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-Cl. 

Quality for domestic use-Good. 

Quality for boiler use-Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use-Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 


a Recalculated from hypothetical combinations in parts per 100,000 from analysis 
furnished by proprietor of springs. 

6 Reported as sodium silicate (Na 2 Si0 3 ). 
c By summation. 
d Computed. 

Besides these springs there are several shallow wells near Agua Caliente 
from which rather salty water is obtainable. 

Aguila .—A small town in Maricopa County in sec. 14, T. 7 N., R. 9 W., and 
a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, which has a well here. 
In 1920 Aguila had a population of 174. The data on the well here and the 
other wells belonging to the railway company were obtained through the cour¬ 
tesy of Mr. Howell Jones, land commissioner of the company. Data on other 
wells in the neighborhood are listed under the names of the owners. 


Log of railroad well at Aguila. 


' 

Thickness. 

Depth. 

Sandy loam and gravel. 

Feet. 

270 

80 

77 

23 

Feet. 

270 

350 

427 

4.50 

Coarse gravel with streaks of clav. 

Coarse gravel and shale sheets [pVobably clay.—C. P. R.]. 

Cement gravel. 



The railway well is 450 feet deep and has a diameter of 15 inches at the 
top and 10 inches at the bottom. Water was struck in this well at 360 feet 
and rose 5 feet. The casing is perforated between the depths of 357 and 388 
feet. A pumping test of three hours gave a yield of about 11 gallons a min¬ 
ute. The water is considered by W. A. Towers, chief chemist of the railway 
company, to be of good quality for boilers. 


Analysis and classification of water from drilled well .'/50 feet deep of the 
Atchison, Topeka tG Santa Fe Railway at Aguila. 


[Analyst, M. D. Foster. Collected Mar. 21, 1919. Parts per million except as otherwise 

designated.] 


Silica (SiO>)_ 29 

Iron (Fe)_ .58 

Calcium (Ca)- 17 

Magnesium (Mg)- 8.6 


Sodium and potassium (Na + K)_ 50 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (I1C0 3 )_ 160 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_ 25 


















































WATERING PLACES. 


199 


Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 10 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_Trace. 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 226 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 a _ 78 

Scale-forming constituents a _ 93 

Foaming constituents “_ 140 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 19 


Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-C0 3 . 

Quality for domestic use_Good. 

Quality for boiler use_Good. 

Quality for irrigation use_Good. 

Mineral content-Moderate. 


° Computed. 


Aguila Land <& Cattle Co.'s wells .—Three wells—one in sec. 16, T. 7 N., 
R. 9 W., with gasoline engine, 358 feet to water, 390 feet deep; one in sec. 
32, T. 8 N., R. 9 W., with a windmill and gasoline engine, 352 feet to water, 
410 feet deep; and one in sec. 15, T. 7 N., It. 10 W., with a windmill and 
gasoline engine, 288 feet to water, 310 feet deep. 

Alamo Spring .—A spring in a small, partly inclosed valley on the north 
side of the S. H. Mountains, about 30 miles south of Vicksburg, Yuma County. 
Good water is reported to be obtainable from it at all seasons. 

Alhambra .—A station on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad, about 
5 miles from Phoenix. No definite information is at hand regarding it, but 
water can undoubtedly be obtained in this vicinity, as it is in the irrigated 
district. The population in 1920 was 918. 

Apiary Well .—At a small apiary, about three-quarters of a mile south of the 
old road across the Gila P>end Mountains, 11 miles west of Woolsey Tank, 
and 20 miles east of Agua Caliente, in the SE. 1 sec. 10, T. 4 S., R. 8 W. 
No one lives here, but there is a driven well, 25 feet deep, from which watm* 
can be obtained. It may be necessary to prime the pump in order to start it. 
The watm* is drinkable but is sslty. 


Analysis and classification of water from Apiary Well. 

[Analyzed by C. II. Kidwell. Collected November 3, 1917. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 32 

Iron (Fe)_ . 42 

Calcium (Ca)- 102 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 39 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) a 335 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )- .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (I1C0 3 )- 249 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )- 180 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 530 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 4. 6 


Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 1, 412 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 a _ 415 

Scale-forming constituents 0 _ 400 

Foaming constituents “_ 900 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 3.8 

Classification: 

Chemical chai'acter_Na-Cl. 

Quality for domestic use_Poor. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Poor. 

Mineral content_High. 


“ Computed. 

Arlington .—A small town in Maricopa County on the Phoenix-Yuma road. 
There are several wells in and near the town. The best place for the traveler 
to obtain water is at the store. Water of fairly good quality is obtainable here. 
This is the last reliable watering place on the road to Yuma before Agua 
Caliente is reached. The following tables give data on several wells in and 
near Arlington. There are other wells besides those listed, but their charac¬ 
teristics are similar. 





































200 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


Records of wells in and near Arlington. 


Owner or name. 


1. Arlington Farm of Flower Pot 

Cattle Co. 

2. John Montgomery, residence 

owned by Flower Pot Cat¬ 
tle Co. 

3. District School 47. 

4. A. K. well. 

5. W. W. Perry. 

6. Arlington Store well, owned 

by Flower Pot Cattle Co. 


Owner or name. 

Depth 
to prin¬ 
cipal 
aquifer. 

Depth 
to other 
aquifers. 

1. Arlington Farm 

Feet. 

25 

Feet. 

of Flower Pot 
Cattle Co. 

2. JohnMontgom- 

20 


ery, residence 
own ed by 
Flower Pot 
Cattle Co. 

3. District School 

98 

10 

47. 

4. A. K. well. 

90 

10 

5. W. W. Perry... 

6. Arlington Store 
. well, owned 

by Flower 
Pot Cattle Co. 


20,40,70 



Location. 



Type of 
well or 
spring. 

Depth 

of 

well. 

Diam¬ 
eter of 
well. 

Quar¬ 

ter. 

Sec¬ 

tion. 

Town¬ 

ship 

S. 

Range 

W. 

Quality of 
water. 

NE. 

28 

1 

5 

Fairly good. 

Drilled.. 

Feet. 

40 

Inches. 

4 

SE. 

NW. 

21 

33 

32 

1 

1 

5 

_do . 

. ..do. 

39 


g 

.do. 

. ..do. 

98 

4 

1 

5 

Poor. 

. ..do. 

150 

4 

SE. 

SE. 

5 

2 

5 

Bad. 


110 

4 

21 

1 

5 

Fairly good.. 

. ..do. 

50 

4 


Water 

level 

below 

sur¬ 

face. 


Feet. 

25 


20 


a 10 


a 10 
20 
35 


Method of lift. 


Windmill. 


Hand pump. 


Hand pump 
and gasoline 
engine. 

Windmill. 

Hand pump.... 
.do. 


Yield. 


Use of 
water. 


Ample.| Domestic 


.do. 


...do_I Domestic 


Small.. 
Ample. 
. ..do_ 


...do. 

Stock 

Domestic 


Date 

of 

com¬ 

ple¬ 

tion 

of 

well. 


Remarks. 


1909 


1912 


Salty water 
encoun¬ 
tered at 10 
feet. 


For analysis 
see below. 


* Mr. Montgomery stated in October, 1917, that the water lovel in these two wells had risen 12 feet in 20 
years. 


Analysis and classification of water from drilled ivell at store in Arlington. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Jan. 12. 1918. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (S10 2 )_ 29 

Iron (Fe)- 1.4 

Calcium (Ca)_ 53 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 20 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)“_155 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )- .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )- 252 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_106 

Chloride radicle (Cl)-164 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 2. 6 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_662 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 “_ 214 

Scale-forming constituents °_ 220 

Foaming constituents “_ 420 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 11 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-C3. 

Quality for domestic use_Good. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 


“ Computed. 









































































































WATERING PLACES. 


201 


Logs of wells in and near Arlington. 

[Data furnished by Mr. John Montgomery.] 

» 

Well at John Montgomery’s residence. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Silt. 

Feet. 

4 

Feet. 

4 


3 

7 

Light sand. 

13 

20 

Loose sand (water bearing). 

18 

38 


Arlington Farm well. 

Silt. 

4 

4 


3 

7 

Tight sand. 

13 

20 

Loose sand (water bearing). 

20 

40 



Well at District School No. 47. 


Sand and gravel. 

60 

60 

Red clay. T. 

32 

98 

Fine white sand (water bearing). 

? 

98 




A. K. well. 


Sand and gravel 
Red clay. 


60 

90 


60 

150 


The wells at Dan Millett’s residence and at the Arlington store are similar 
to the Arlington Farm well. Mr. Montgomery states that in general all wells 
in this locality that have good water draw it from white sand encountered 
after penetrating 30 to 40 feet of red clay. Those that have gone deeper have 
found no water. 

Avondale. —A station on the Buckeye line of the Arizona Eastern Railroad 
in Maricopa County, in sec. 19, T. 1 N., R. 1 W. The store at the station 
has a well 20 feet deep operated by a hand pump. The water is used for 
stock and some domestic purposes but is said to be unfit for drinking. This 
is not a convenient watering place for travelers. 

Baragan’s Well. —About a mile north of the new road between Agua Caliente 
and Palomas and halfway between these two places, in the NE. 4 sec. 18, 
T. 5 S., R. 11 W. It is a dug well 74 feet deep, is owned by Frank Baragan, 
of Palomas, and is used as a watering place for stock. 


Analysis and classification of water from Baragan y s Well. 

[Analyzed by M. D. Foster. Collected Sept. 11, 1917. Parts per million except as other 

wise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )- 70 

Iron 1 (Fe)- *46 

Calcium (Ca)- 25 

Magnesium (Mg)- 6.0 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) 165 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )- -0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )- 454 


Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )- 30 

Chloride radicle (Cl)- 30 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )- 1*4 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 561 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 °- 87 

Scale-forming constituents a - 150 

Foaming constituents a - 450 


• Computed. 



































































202 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 4.6 

Classification: 

Chemical character_Na—C0 3 . 

Quality for domestic use_Good. 


Classification—Continued. 

Quality for boiler use-Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Poor. 

Mineral content_High. 


Beardsley. —A station on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad about 
24 miles from Phoenix. There is a section house here, and water can doubtless 
be obtained. 

Bighorn Well. —On the Harquahala Plain, on the Parker cut-off, 6£ miles 
west of the Palo Verde mine, in T. 2 N., R. 8 W. It is used as a watering place 
for stock by the Harquahala Livestock Co. Water can be obtained here by 
travelers. The water is of good quality, as is shown by the analysis below. 
It is a dug well equipped with a hand windlass and a windmill. 


Analysis and classification of water from Bighorn Well. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Dec. 5, 1917. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (SJOs)_ 4.5 

Iron (Fe)_ .06 

Calcium (Ca)- 33 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 9.0 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) a _ 148 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (I1C0 3 )_123 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_110 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_159 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 1.6 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_527 


a Computed. 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 °-119 

Scale-forming constituents “_120 

Foaming constituents a _400 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 12 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-Cl 

Quality for domestic use-Good. 

Quality for boiler use_Bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 


Bouse. —A town in Yuma County and a station on the Atchison, Topeka & 
Santa Fe Railway in T. 7 N., R. 17 W. (See p. 173.) Water of fairly good 
quality for travelers is always available. The following data on several of the 
representative wells in this town will give an idea of the conditions there: 

R. O. Worley has two wells, one in the SE. \ sec. 22, T. 7 N., R. 17 W., 29 
feet deep and 25 feet to water, and the other in the SW. \ sec. 23, T. 7 N., 
R. 17 W., 45 feet deep and 37 feet to water. Both supply water for domestic 
use. The yield is said to be ample, and the water is of fair quality but is 
somewhat salty to the taste. E. F. Graham has a well in the SW. i sec. 15, 
T. 7 N., R. 17 W., which he uses for his house and for irrigating a small patch 
of land. The quality of the water is said to be good. The railroad well at Bouse, 
drilled in 1910 and 1911, went 51 feet before striking water and stopped at 
690 feet, where water that could be used in boilers was reached. This well 
has been tested at 30 gallons a minute. The lower part of the well is 6 inches 
in diameter. 

Log of railroad well at Bouse. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Sand, clav, and gravel. 

Feet. 

180 

150 

20 

100 

240 

Feet. 

180 

330 

350 

Cemented gravel with streaks of clay. 

Clay and shale. 

Reddish conglomerate. 

Grayish trap rock with clay streaks. 

fiQO 





















































WATERING PLACES. 


203 : 


There is said to be a well in Bouse Wash, in sec. 5, T. 7 N., R. 17 W., which 
went 105 feet, all in rock, without striking water. 


Analyses and classification of waters from wells at Bouse. 

[Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 ). 

Iron (Fe). 

Calcium (Ca). 

Magnesium (Mg)." " 

Sodium and potassium (Na+K) 

Carbonate radicle (CO 3 ). 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 ). 

Sulphate radicle (SO 4 ). 

Chloride radicle (Cl). 

Nitrate radicle (NO s ). 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C.. 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 a . 

Scale-forming constituents a_ 

Foaming constituents a . 

Alkali coefficient (inches).. 

Classification: 

Chemical character. 

Quality for domestic use.... 

Quality for boiler use. 

Quality for irrigation use... 

Mineral content. 

Analyst. 

Date of collection. 


1 

2 

3 

25 

44 

38 

.80 

.51 

.27' 

47 

108 

62 

5.6 

55 

12 

a 235 

a 270 

236 

.0 

.0 

.0 

65 

212 

147 

328 

379 

299 

173 

359 

179 

14 

9.1 

4.7 

907 

1,408 

928 

140 

496 

200 

170 

450 

240 

630 

730 

640 

9.7 

5.5 

9.4 

Na-SO* 

Na-Cl 

Na-SOi. 

Fair. 

b Poor. 

Fair. 

Very bad. 

Very bad. 

Very bad. 

Fair. 

Poor. 

Fair. 

High. 

High. 

High. 

F. E. Keating. 

F. E. Keating. 

Margaret D. Foster. 

Sept. 28, 1917. 

Sept. 28, 1917. 

Mar. 19, 1919., 


a Computed. 

b Poor on account of excessive hardness, which will cause trouble in washing; otherwise fair. 


1. Dug well 29 feet deep, of R. O. Worley. 

2. Dug well 45 feet deep, of R. O. Worley. 

3. Drilled well 690 feet deep, of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. 


Bradford Well. —One of Thomas W. Bales’s cattle wells, about 9 miles south 
of Vicksburg and the same distance southeast of Desert Well. It has a wind¬ 
mill but no facilities for travelers. The well is 223 feet deep, and the depth 
to water is 180 feet. It is not on any regularly traveled road. 

Brown's Well. —An irrigation well in the SW. i SE. i sec. 23, T. 5 N., R. 13 W. 
It is equipped with a gasoline pump that delivers 400 gallons a minute. The 
depth to water is 60 feet, and the depth of the well is 365 feet. The well is 
not on one of the regularly traveled roads but is near two such roads. 

Buckeye. —A town in Maricopa County on the road between Phoenix and 
Yuma in T. 1 S., R. 3 W. It is a station on the Buckeye line of the Arizona 
Eastern Railroad. (See p. 154.) Good water is always available here for 
travelers. Data on several representative wells in and near the town are given 
in the following table: 


Records of wells in and near Buckeye. 




Location. 


Quality 

Type 
of well. 

Depth 
of well. 

Diam- 

Owner or name. 

Quar¬ 

ter. 

Sec¬ 

tion. 

Town¬ 

ship. 

Range. 

of 

water. 

eter 
of well. 

Johnson & Wetzler. 

NE. 

32 

1 N. 

3 W. 

Good. 

Drilled. 

Feet. 

174 

Inches, 
a 60 

Millor "Bros _ 

SE.? 

28? 

1 N. 

3 W. 

. ..do... 


106 


Town Well. 

NW. 

5 

1 S. 

3 W. 

. ..do... 

. ..do. 

160 


T) P Clanton (?).. 

5 

1 S. 

3 W. 

. ..do... 

...do. 

160 


r Rnckp.vp. Tcp Co 

SW. 

5 

1 S. 

3 W. 

...do... 


±135 


T.nnff’s Hotp.l 

NW. 

7 

1 S. 

3 W. 

_do... 


40-50 



NW. 

12 

1 S. 

4 W. 

...do... 

.... do. 

128 



a Plank lagging, concrete top. 
























































































204 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Records of wells in and near Buckeye —Continued. 


Owner or name. 

Water 

level 

below 

surface. 

Method of lift. 

Yield 

(gallons 

per 

minute). 

Use of water. 

Johnson & Wetzler. ... 

Feet. 

54.5 

35-horsepower 
Charter gasoline 
engine, centrif¬ 
ugal pump. 
(42-horsepower oil 
•{ engine, 6-incli 
l pump. 

F. M. gasoline en¬ 
gine. 

Windmill. 

Ample.. 

Irrigation. 

Miller Bros. 

68 

. ..do. 

Domestic, stock, 
irrigation. 

Town supply. 

Domestic, stock, 
irrigation. 

Ice manufacture. 

Town Well. 

GO 

200 

D. P. Clanton (?). 

25 

Ample.. 

. ..do. 

Buckeye Ice Co. 

±35 

. ..do. 

Long’s" Hotel. 

10 

Hand pump and 
windmill. 

...do. 

. ..do. 


18 

. ..do. 

Domestic, stoc'k, 
irrigation. 

/ 




Burger Well. —An old well, now caved and abandoned, in sec. 24, T. 1 N., 
R. 8 W., on the old Harrisburg road. It was 183 feet deep, penetrated 132 
feet of hard cemented gravel, and encountered water in white sand below the 
gravel. The water was bitter. 

The Flower Pot Cattle Co. put down a well west of the Burger Well, in 
or near sec. 26, T. 1 N., R. 9 W., but it yielded very little water and was 
abandoned. It is 170 feet deep and 132 feet to water. 

Log of abandoned well of Flower Pot Cattle Co. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

132 

12 

26 

Feet. 

132 

144 

170 

Sand (?) (water bearing). 

Red clay. 



Burned Place Well. —On the Harqualiala Plain, on the Parker cut-off, 9 
miles west of the Palo Verde mine, in sec. 11, T. 2 N., R. 9 W. It is used as 
a watering place for stock by the I-Iarquahala Livestock Co. Water can be 
obtained here, if necessary, but no facilities are provided. The water is of 
fair quality, as shown by the analysis below. The well is 390 feet deep, and 
the depth to water is 230 feet. It is a drilled well with 6-inch casing, equipped 
with gasoline engine and pump jack. Water was first struck at 260 feet and 
rose immediately to a level 230 feet below the surface. The formation en¬ 
countered in the upper part of the well is gravel, more or less cemented. The 
last 100 feet or so is in clay. No water was obtained in the clay. This well 
received its name from the fact that the camp of two prospectors, named 
Phelps and Hamilton, at this place burned down. The fire was extensive 
enough to leave traces that were plainly visible for a long time. These men 
were the first to locate and break the road from Harrisburg to Winters Well 
about 30 years ago. 














































WATERING PLACES. * 


205 


Analysis and classification of tcater from Burned Place Well. 

(Analyzed by C. II. Kidwell. Collected Dec. 6, 1917. Parts per million except as other¬ 
wise designated.] 


■Silica- 36 

Tron (Fe) __ 4 . o 

Calcium (Ca)_ 30 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 20 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) n _193 

•Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ 14 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_202 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_130 

•Chloride radicle (Cl)_136 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 75 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_746 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 * _137 

Scale-forming constituents a _160 

Foaming constituents °_520 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 7.1 

Classification : 

Chemical character __Na-Cl. 

Quality for domestic use_Fair. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 


• Computed. 

Butler Well. —On the road from Wenden by way of Cunningham Pass to 
Parker, 21 miles from Wenden, in the SW. i sec. 21, T. 8 N., R. 14 W. It is a 
stock well belonging to the Renada ranch. A supply of water is kept in the 
rtank for the accommodation of travelers. It was originally a dug well 150 to 
200 feet deep. The water supply at this depth gave out, and in 1911 or there¬ 
abouts the owners of the ranch had it cleaned out and drilled to a depth of 
300 feet. Good water was found in gravel at a depth of 260 feet. When the 
well was visited in October, 1917, the water level was reported to be 260 feet 
below the surface. The amount of water obtainable was not deemed sufficient, 
and the owners were planning to drill deeper. This work has since been under¬ 
taken, but the results are not known. 

Campbell Sheep Co.’s Well. —In sec. 10 or 12, T. 7 N., R. 8 W.; 435 feet to 
water, 450 feet deep; equipped with a gasoline engine. 

Cashion. —A station on the Buckeye line of the Arizona Eastern Railroad, on 
the road between Phoenix and Yuma, 14 miles from Phoenix, in sec. 7, T. 1 N., 

R. 1 E. (Seep. 153.) Water of fair quality is available here. It is piped from 
the Cashion ranch, about a mile to the south, and usually tastes of the pipe. 

Castle Dome. —A mining camp occupied at the time of visit, in January, 1918, 
■only by a caretaker and his family. It is on the road between Quartzsite and 
Yuma, 25 miles north of Dome, Yuma County, in the Castle Dome Mountains. 
(See pp. 188-189.) Water pumped from the mine is available for travelers, but 
as the tank is uncovered the water is usually not as clean as could be desired. 
If, as is possible, the mine is reopened, this defect will doubtless be remedied. 

Cement Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in sec. 
22, T. 2 N., R. 5 W. It has a windmill, but no facilities for travelers and is not 
on a regularly traveled road. No one lives at or near the well. It is 150 feet 
deep and 85 feet to water. 

Cemitosa Tanks. —Natural tanks near Alamo Spring, on the north side of the 

S. H. Mountains, nearly 30 miles from Vicksburg. Water can be obtained here 
•during at least part of the year. 

Chain Tanks. —A series of natural rock tanks in a canyon on the east flank 
of the Castle Dome Mountains a short distance south of the road to Deep Well. 
These tanks are reported to be large, and some of them are said to be reliable 
sources of water at all seasons. Tanks called White Tanks, White Horse Tanks, 
and other names have also been reported from this locality. It is not definitely 
known whether these are different sets of tanks or merely different names for 
4he same one. 























206 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 

T 

Cibola. — A small town on Colorado River. It is most conveniently reached 
from the California side of the river, although there is a road from Cibola to 
Quartzsite, connecting with roads to Bouse on the north and Dome on the 
south. Mail and freight come through Palo Verde, Calif. The principal in 
dustry is raising bees. Detailed data on the wells here are not available, but 
they are all comparatively shallow, the deepest being reported to be about 60 
feet deep. Most of the farming is done on land subject to overflow by the 
river. Travelers can obtain water at the town. 

Clanton’s Well. —About 26 miles north of Palomas and half a mile northeast 
of the point where the road between Palomas and Harquahala passes through 
the gap between the Gila Bend Mountains and the Clanton Hills. It is a stock 
well belonging to J. E. Clanton and his associates in the cattle business. A 
cow puncher is kept on duty here, and water will usually be found on hand. 
It can always be obtained if the man in charge is present to operate the pump. 
The well is reported to be 328 feet deep and the depth to water 250 feet. The, 
first 298 feet was drilled in rock, mostly or entirely limestone. The water is 
good, but the flow is not very strong. The well is reported to go dry in half 
an hour when it is pumped at the rate of a gallon a minute. The suction pipe- 
extends to a depth of 313 feet. 

Coldwater .-—A store on the west bank of Agua Fria River, on the road be¬ 
tween Phoenix and Yuma, 16.2 miles from Phoenix, in sec. 11, T. 1 N., R. 1 W. 
There is a well here equipped with a windmill and hand pump from which 
excellent water can be obtained. It is reported to be 30 to 35 feet deep, with 
depth to water 20 feet. 

Courthouse Well. —On the Harquahala Plain, in sec. 16, T. 2 N., R 10 W.; 
used for watering stock by the Harquahala Livestock Co. It is a drilled well 
with 6-inch casing, equipped with a 6-horsepower engine and pump jack. It is 
494 feet deep, 290 feet to water. The formations encountered in drilling are 
similar to those in Burned Place Well. # (See p. 204.) 

Coyote Well. —See Vinegaron Well. 

Crabb Well. —Ten miles southeast of Aguila. This well is owned by D. D. 
Crabb. The depth to water is 235 feet, and the total depth 254 feet. It is 
equipped with a gasoline engine. About 5 miles southeast of this well is another 
in a wash, 32 feet deep, equipped with a windmill. This well goes dry in 
summer. 

Cunningham Pass. —There are a number of mines and prospects in Cunning¬ 
ham Pass on the road between Wenden and Parker, about 10 miles from Wen- 
den. Water might be obtained from any of these in an emergency. Near one 
of the forks leading to the property of the Desert Mining & Development Co., 
9 miles from Wenden, is a well about 100 yards southeast of the main road. 
This well is banked up with rock and dirt, so that the top of the curb is 6 feet 
above the level of the ground. The top is covered with boards to exclude dirt 
and animals. Water can be obtained by lowering a rope and bucket. It has 
a perceptible taste but is satisfactory for drinking and cooking. The depth to 
water from the top of the curb was 61.6 feet in October, 1917. 

Cullvns Well. —One of the long established watering places in McMullen 
Valley, having been used as a stage station in the old days. It is about 10 
miles east of Wenden, in sec. 33, T. 7 N., R. 11 W. No recent data regarding 
it are at hand, but it is believed to be still available as a watering place. 

Deadman Tank. —A sand tank on the road between Palomas and Salome, 20 
miles south of Harquahala, near the north end of the gulch along which the- 
road passes through the Little Horn Mountains. It was dry when visited in 
1918. It is also called Road Tank. 


WATERING PLACES. 


207 


Deep Well (abandoned)—On the old road from Palomas to Castle Dome, 42 
miles from Palomas. It is now caved and abandoned. It is reported to have 
been 1,180 feet deep and to have furnished a considerable amount of good 
Xvater. (See p. 161.) 

Desert Well .—At one of the abandoned stage stations, 5 miles southwest of 
Vicksburg, on the road to Quartzsite. (See PI. XXII, A.) Ruins of an adobe 
house remain, but no one lives there now. The well is used by T. W. Bales as 
a watering place for stock. Travelers can obtain fair drinking water from the 
tank. The depth is reported to be 265 feet, and the depth to water 120 feet. 
This well was originally dug to a depth of 120 feet about 35 or 40 years ago and 
was deepened by drilling in 1916. An ample supply of water for stock is now 
reported to be obtained. 

Dixie mine .—In the Gila Bend Mountains on the new road across this range 
17.3 miles from Arlington. (See p. 156.) There is a dug well a few yards 
north of the road on the west side of the wash at the mine. It is equipped with 
a rope and two buckets. It has a wooden covering that was intended to prevent 
contamination by animals but is not altogether effective. When the well is 
cared for, as it is when the mine is operated, good water can always be ob¬ 
tained. When there is no one at the mine there is some danger of the water 
being contaminated by animals. The well is 37 feet deep, and the depth to 
water 32 feet—both from the top of curb, which is about 3 feet above the sur¬ 
face of the ground. 

Dome .—A station on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 20 miles east of Yuma. 
It is the point at which the road from Quartzsite meets the present road from 
Phoenix to Yuma. The railroad company has a cistern here, and there are 
several shallow wells in and near the town. (See McDaniel’s Well, p. 213.) 
Salty but drinkable water can be obtained at all times. A well 37 feet deep in 
gravel was dug for the railroad in 1918, but the water in it was found to be 
so bad that it was abandoned. 

Dos Palmas Well .—Commonly called Dos Palms Well. It is a cattle well 
belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in sec. 8, T. 4 N., R. 4 W. It has a 
windmill but no facilities for travelers. It is 223 feet deep, and the depth to 
water is 205 feet. The supply of water is not abundant. No one lives here. 
It is not on a regularly traveled road. This well was difficult to drill because 
of the numerous boulders encountered. Another well was started 3 miles above 
it on Hassayampa River, but it had to be abandoned because of difficulties with 
boulders. 

Ehrenberp Ferry .—The ferry across Colorado River for travelers between 
Quartzsite, Ariz., and Blythe, Calif., 19 miles west of Quartzsite. (See PL 
XXII, B.) There are no wells here. The river water can be used in case 
of necessity, but it is better, if possible, to wait until Blythe, 5 miles to the 
west, or Gonzales Wells, 10 miles to the east, is reached. 

Engle Well—In the NE. £ SE. £ sec. 1, T. 7 N., R. 8 W. This well is owned by 
Zagel Engle. It was uncompleted in the spring of 1918 but is doubtless now 
in operation. The depth to water is 431 feet. 

Farra's ranch —In the SW. £ sec. 1, T. 7 S., R, 14 W., about 12 miles 
west of Palomas, three-fourths of a mile south of the main highway. There 
are two wells here, only one of which is in use. This well gives an ample 
supply of fairly good water for domestic use. It is 19 feet deep, and the 

depth to water is 11 feet. 

Fourth of July Tank .—Fourth of July Wash is a wide sand wash crossed by 
the new road across the Gila Bend Mountains, 6 miles west of the Dixie mine. 
Except in very dry seasons water is reported to be obtainable by digging in 
the sand of the wash 100 yards or less south of the road crossing. 


208 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Frandsen <C Knudsen’s Well. —On the road between Gila Bend and Buckeye, 
in the W. \ sec. 33, T. 4 S., R. 4 W. It was 21.8 feet deep, and the depth to 
water was 11.9 feet October 25, 1917. The well is equipped with a windmill 
and small gasoline engine and is used for watering stock. As the analysis 
below shows, the water is too high in mineral matter for human consumption. 


Analysis and classification of water from Frandsen cC- Knudseii’s well. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Oct. 25, 1917. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated. 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 44 

Iron (Fe)_ .83 

Calcium (Ca)_ 432 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 196 

Sodium and potassium 

(Na + K)“_ 1,305 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )- 3.4 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_ 436 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_ 593 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 2,640 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 14 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 6, 010 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 “_ 1, 880 

Scale-forming constituents' 1 _ 1,600 

Foaming constituents 0 _ 3, 500 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ .8 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na—Cl. 

Quality for domestic use-Very bad. t 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation_Bad. 

Mineral content_ 1 _Very high. 


a Computed. 

Freighter Well. —An old dug well, just north of the gap between the Gila 
Bend Mountains and the Clanton Hills, near the bank of one of the washes 
that converge here. This was a watering place in the days when the freight 
for the Harquahala mine went over the road from Palomas. It was dry and 
somewhat caved at the time of visit. J. B. Martin, of the Harquahala mine, 
says that in the freighting days there used to be an abundance of good water 
here. His impression was that the well was only 40 to 50 feet deep, but it 
may have been considerably deeper than this. 

Galleta Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in the 
SW. \ SE. i sec. 24, T. 1 S., It. 7 W. It has a windmill but no facilities 
for travelers. The well is 129 feet deep and the depth to water 115 feet. No 
one lives here, and the well is not on a regularly traveled road. 


Log of Galleta Well. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Silt. 

Feet. 

3 

Feet. 

3 


125 

128 


1 

129 




Analysis and classification of water from Galleta Well. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Oct. 29, 1917. Parts per million except as other¬ 
wise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 33 

Iron (Fe)- . 40 

Calcium (Ca)_ 20 

Magnesium (Mg)- 9. 1 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) # 419 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )- .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )- 381 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )- 252 

Chloride radicle (Cl)- 297 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 5. 1 


Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 1, 286 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 a _ 87 

Scale-forming constituents 0 _ 110 

Foaming constituents a _1. 100 

Alkali coefficient (inches)__ 3. 1 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-Cl. 

Quality for domestic use_Fair. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation_Poor. 

Mineral content_High. 


• Computed. 





















































WATERING PLACES. 


209 


Gila Bend.—A town on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Logs and other 
information regarding the railroad wells here are given on pages 79-84. Good 
water is always available. 


Analyses and classification of ground-water supplies at Gila Bend. 
[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Oct. 25,1917. Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 



1 

2 


1 

2 

Silica (Si0 2 ). 

Iron (Fe). 

Calcium (Ca). 

Magnesium (Mg). 

Sodium and potassium 

(Na+K) a . 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 ). 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )... 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 ). 

Chloride radicle (Cl). 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 ). 

Total dissolved solids at 180° 

C. 

28 

.52 

8.3 
2.2 

181 

.0 

27 

67 

231 

7.3 

563 

27 

.17 

96 

9.5 

409 

.0 

76 

128 

685 

6.4 

1,495 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 a.... 
Scale-forming constituents 0 .. 

Foaming constituents a . 

Alkali coefficient (inches) .... 

Classification: 

Chemical character. 

Quality for domestic use.. 

Quality for boiler use. 

Quality for irrigation use. 
Mineral content.. 

30 

56 

490 

8.5 

Na-Cl. 
Good. 
Very bad. 
Fair. 
High. 

279 

330 

1,100 

3.0 

Na-Cl. 
Poor. 
Very bad. 
Poor. 
High. 


o Computed. 

1. Combined flow of old and new round-house wells, about 1,000 feet deep. 
-• No. 1 well of Southern Pacific Railroad, about 1,000 feet deep. 


Glendale. —A town on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad, about 9 
miles from Phoenix. In 1920 the population was 2,737. Water is available 
for travelers. 

Gonzales Wells. —On the road between Quartzsite and Ehrenberg Ferry, 
9 miles west of Quartzsite, is a house and two rock-cribbed wells. (See PI. 
XXII, C.) Both are equipped with windlass and bucket; the one near the 
road has a concrete collar and trapdoor and is the better one to use. It is 37 
feet deep, with a depth of 30.2 feet to water. The water is of fairly good 
quality. 

Goodmans Tank. 21 — The best known and most accessible of the tanks in the 
Dome Rock Mountains, in the northern portion of the range. The water is 
piped from depths of several feet from the sand that fills the natural tank. 
There are various other tanks in these mountains, some of which are reported 
to be near the road between Quartzsite and Ehrenberg Ferry, but no definite 
information was obtained in regard to them. 

Hall Well. —An abandoned well about 5 miles northwest of Agua Caliente 
and 14 miles off the main road. It was sunk by Mr. Hall about 1914. Its 
depth is 150 feet; depth to water, 97.8 feet; temperature of water, 83° F. 
(September 10, 1917). The well is cased with stovepipe casing 1 foot in 
diameter. There are no facilities for obtaining water, though at the time of 
visit enough baling wire was lying on the ground to lower a bottle down the 
well. This water had much iron rust in it and had a peculiar taste. It is 
scarcely drinkable. 

Harqualiala. —The town at the Harquahala mine, 9 miles south of Salome. 
(See p. 193.) There are no wells here, but a supply of water for the use 
of the men engaged in reopening the mine is piped from a well or wells in 
Harrisburg Valley. 

Hayes Cattle Co.'s Well (dry).—At a point 11 miles northeast of Aguila and 
3 miles northeast of Forepaugli the Hayes Cattle Co. drove a well to a depth of 

» Jones, E. L., Gold deposits near Quartzite, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 620, 
p. 46, 1916. % 





































210 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


375 feet and struck bedrock without encountering any water. It is incorrectly 
located on Plate III. 

Hoist Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., reported 
to be in sec. 28, T. 1 S., II. 6 W. (?) It has a windmill but no facilities for 
travelers. The well is 130 feet deep, and the depth to water 24 feet. The 
supply of water is not abundant. No one lives here, and the well is not on 
a regularly traveled road. 

Hoodoo Wells. —Two wells close together and of the same character, near 
Alamo Spring, on the north side of the S. H. Mountains, about 28 miles by road 
west of Clanton’s Well. They are used for watering stock by Messrs. Clanton 
and Smith. Each was dug to a depth of 354 feet and is equipped with a wind¬ 
mill and gasoline engine. The yield from these wells is reported to be about 
2 gallons a minute. A yield of 12 gallons a minute can be obtained for four 
hours, after which no more water can be pumped for a time. 

Horse Tanks. —A well-known series of natural rock tanks in the Castle Dome 
Mountains, about 2 miles off the main road from Quartzsite to Dome. (S^e 
PI. XXIII, A.) Convenient and fairly good branch roads extend from the 
main highway to the tanks. (See p. 187.) There are reported to be about a 
dozen of these tanks. The upper ones are accessible only by arduous and per¬ 
haps dangerous climbing. In the three tanks at the end of the road the water 
was green with organic growths and had a somewhat disagreeable odor when 
visited in October, 1917. It is reported on good authority that the water in 
the upper and less accessible tanks is in much more drinkable condition at all 
times. Water remains in some of the larger tanks even in the dryest seasons. 
The lower tanks are used for watering stock as well as by travelers. The 
middle one of the three lower tanks has been improved by two low concrete 
walls set so as to increase its capacity. The wall on the downstream side has 
a 2-incli pipe let into it. This had a valve on the lower end and was intended to 
facilitate the drawing of water from this tank, either for cattle or for 
travelers’ use. The tank is inaccessible to stock, so some such provision for 
making the water stored in it available for them was necessary. At the time 
of visit the pipe was clogged with sediment and the valve useless. This tank 
is the largest one actually observed during this investigation, but larger ones 
are reported to occur in the region. It is oval, and the longer axis is transverse 
to the course of the stream. The major axes of the oval are approximately 
50 and 35 feet long. When full this tank alone holds at least 70,000 gallons. 

Hot Springs Junction. —A town on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Rail¬ 
road, about 36 miles from Phoenix. Water from the railroad tank is sold to 
travelers. 

Humming Bird Spring. —In the Bighorn Mountains near the Humming Bird 
mine, belonging to E. R. Cartwright, 17 miles by trail from the Palo Verde 
mine. Some water is reported to be available at all seasons, but in very dry 
weather the amount is small and the quality poor. 

Huntman Well. —In sec. 18, T. 7 N., R. 9 W. Owned by H. Huntman. The 
depth to water is 381 feet, and the total depth 410 feet. The well is equipped 
with a windmill and gasoline pump. It is also reported to be called Rush Well. 

Huttman Well. —In the SW T . 4 SW. 4 sec. 18, T. 7 N., R. 8 W. Owned by 
Hugo Huttman. The depth to water is 380 feet, and the total depth 400 feet. 

Imperial Well. 22 —North of the road between Dome and Yuma, on unsur¬ 
veyed land, approximately in sec. 17, T. 8 S., R. 21 W. This well is owned 
by Alberto Imperial. It is 87 feet deep, has an 8-inch sheet-iron casing, and is 
equipped with a windmill and large iron tank. 

- m -.— --—. 

22 Data collected by Kirk Bryan, U. S. Geol. Survey. 




WATERING PLACES. 


211 


Jansen Well.— In the SE. £ SE. £ sec. 15, T. 7 N. R. 9 W. Owned by J. M. 
Tansen. The depth to water is 355 feet, total depth 393 feet. The well is 
equipped with a windmill and gasoline pump. At the time of visit it had run 
48 days and nights continuously, pumping 125 gallons a minute without lower¬ 
ing the water level. 

La Belle Well. —One of Thomas W. Bales’s cattle wells in the Ranegras 
Plains, south of the Bear Hills. It has a windmill but no facilities for travelers 
and is not on any regularly traveled road. It is 409 feet deep, and the depth 
to water is 340 feet. 

Ladder' Tanks.—A series of natural tanks in the Castle Dome Mountains, 
half a mile east of the main Quartzsite-Dome road at a point 3 miles north of 
Castle Dome. When visited in October, 1917, the water in them was clean 
and good. Water can always be obtained here except possibly after an un¬ 
usually prolonged drought. The tanks occur at the bases of a series of small 
waterfalls in a canyon carved in felsite. They are inaccessible to stock and 
difficultly accessible to any animals except birds. The lower tank can be 
reached with no great difficulty by an agile man, but the ascent to the upper 
ones would be attended with some danger. 

La Paz. —An abandoned mining town on the east side of Colorado River, 4 
miles north of Ehrenberg Ferry, on the road between the ferry and Parker. 
In December, 1917, wells were being sunk here to obtain water for use at the 
property of the La Paz Gold Mining Co. in the Dome Rock Mountains, a short 
distance to the east. It was planned to sink these wells deep enough to obtain 
good drinking water. 

There are no wells along the road from Parker to Ehrenberg except some 
shallow ones in the Colorado River Indian Reservation near Parker. The 
water in all of these is probably too salty to be drinkable. The road is at no 
point far from the river, however, and water can readily be obtained from it 
or from sloughs along its course. This water will in general be found to be fit 
for consumption by stock and probably by men if it is boiled. 

Lapham Well. —In sec. 15, T. 7 N., R. 10 W. Owned by Charles W. Lapham. 
It is not shown on the map because neither its exact location nor its relation 
to the well of the Aguila Land & Cattle Co., near by, is known. The depth to 
water is 288 feet (?), and the total depth of the well 338 feet. It is equipped 
with a windmill and gasoline engine. 

Lapham Wells. —Frank C. Lapham owns three wells—one in the SE. £ NE. 1 
sec. 10, T. 7 N., R. 8 W., 430 feet to water, 450 feet deep, equipped with wind¬ 
mill and gasoline engine; one in the NW. £ NW. £ sec. 25, T. 7 N., R. 9 W., 
361 'feet to water, 410 feet deep, equipped with gasoline pump; and a third in 
sec. 27, T. 7 N., R. 8 W., which was driven 388 feet to bedrock without 
encountering water. 

Lava Springs Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., 
in the southeast corner of the NW. £ NE. £ sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 6 W. It has a 
windmill but no facilities for travelers. It is 169 feet deep. After a long dry 
spell it is unreliable. Its maximum capacity is less than 2 gallons a minute. 
No one lives here, and it is not on a regularly traveled road. 


Log of Lava Springs Well. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

Feet. 

T,ava hnnldprs . ...... 

35 

35 

W4i it.A san <4 ( wat.pr hp.arinp , 'l _ _..... . ... 

110 

145 


1 

146 

Sand (?) (water bearing). 

23 

169 


49417—23-15 
























212 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


Liberty. —A farming town on the road between Phoenix and Yuma, 28 miles 
from Phoenix. Good water for travelers is available at the store. Data on 
some representative wells here are given below. The desert north of Liberty is 
being developed by sinking wells for irrigation. 


Records of wells in the vicinity of Liberty, T. 1 N., R. 2 W. 


Owner. 

Location. 

Quality 

of 

water. 

Tyjpe 

well. 

Quar¬ 

ter- 

Sec¬ 

tion. 

J. Schweikart. 

SW. 

32 

Good.. 

Drilled.. 

W. R. Beloat. 


6 

Fair... 


Abandoned. 

sw. 

16 


...do.... 

I. D. Garrison. 

SE. 

8 

Good.. 

...do.... 

B. W. Stone. 

sw. 

10 

...do... 

...do.... 

K. W. Weyser. 

SE. 

5 

...do... 

...do_ 



Water level. 

I 

Owner. 

Below 

surface. 

Date of 
measurement. 

Method of lift. 

J. Schweikart. 

11 feet.... 

Aug. 15,1917. 

Hand pump and 


gasoline * en- 

W. R. Beloat. 

11 feet... 

Nov. 9,1917.. 

gine. 

3£-horsepower 
2i-inch cylin¬ 
der gasoline 
engine. 

None. 

Abandoned. 

8 feet.... 

Aug. 22,1917. 
...do. 

I. D. Garrison. 

100 feet... 

2-horsepower 
gasoline en¬ 
gine. 

Windmill 

B. W. Stone... . 

72 feet 8J 
inches. 
71 feet 7i 

April, 1915... 

Feb., 1916.... 

K. W. Weyser. 

inches. 
71 feet 6| 
inches. 
9o feet.... 

Aug., 1917— 

Aug. 22, 1917. 

32-horsepower 
F. M. gasoline 
engine. 



Depth 

of 

well. 


Diam¬ 
eter of 
well. 


Feet. 

125 

130 


Inches. 

4 

4 


Character 
of water¬ 
bearing 
material. 


Gravel.. 
.. .do.... 


(?) 


120 

78 

260 


Yield. 

Use of water. 

Good.... 

Domestic. 

Ample.. 

.. .do. 

None.... 
Ample.. 

None. 

Domestic, stock 
irrigation. 

. .do.... 

.. .do. 

. .do_ 

...do. 




Depth 

to 

which 
well is 
cased. 


Feet. 

"‘iso 


Date 

of 

com¬ 

ple¬ 

tion 

of 

well. 


1911 


1915 


Lone Mountain Well. —In Harquahala Plain, in the SE. £ sec. 17, T. 3 N., 
It. 11 W. It is a cattle-watering place of the Harquahala Livestock Co. The 
analysis given below shows that the water is of good quality. No facilities are 
provided for obtaining clean water for human consumption. The well has a 
5-inch casing and is equipped with a 6-horsepower gasoline engine and pump 
jack. It is drilled to a depth of 478 feet through clay, gravel, and sand. The 
water stands 400 feet below the surface. An ample supply is reported to be 
obtained. 


Analysis and classification of water from Lone Mountain Well. 


[Analyzed by F. E. Keating. Collected Dec. 7, 1917. Parts per million except as other¬ 
wise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 36 

Iron (Fe)_ .21 

Calcium (Ca)_ 25 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 12 


Sodium and potassium (Na + K) a _ 173 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ 19 

Bicarbonate radicle (IIC0 3 )_ 195 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )- 90 


Computed. 





























































































WATERING PLACES. 


213 


Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 ®_ 

Scale-forming constituents ®_ 

Foaming constituents®_ 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 


® Computed. 

Near Lone Mountain is a well drilled 465 feet to bedrock, but dry and aban¬ 
doned. 

Loudermilk Well. —See State Well. 

McClellan Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in 
the SW. i sec. 36, T. 1 N., R. 6 W. It is 102 feet deep and the depth to water 
is 53 feet. This well is not very reliable. No one lives here, and it is not on a 
regularly traveled road. Water was first struck at 102 feet in very hard caliche. 
It rose immediately to 53 feet. 

McDaniel's Well” —In the river flood plain near Dome, in sec. 6, T. 8 S., 
R. 20 W. Owned by E. W. McDaniel. It is 22 feet deep, 10 inches in diameter, 
and equipped with a windmill and 2^-inch cylinder. The depth to water is 12 
feet. The water is so salty that it is not used for drinking. 

McIntyre Well. —Near the railroad, 13 miles west of Aguila. It is 198 feet 
deep and is equipped with a windmill and gasoline engine. 

McPherson Tanks. —A series of natural rock tanks in the Castle Dome Moun¬ 
tains, in a wash nearly 1£ miles from the Quartzsite-Dome road at a point 6$ 
miles from Castle Dome. The first tank is a hollow in the rock bed of the 
wash, partly filled with sand. The hollow measures about 6 by 11 feet, but 
w r hen visited in October, 1917, it contained a pool of water only 1£ feet wide. 
About 175 feet farther up is the head of the wash. Here there is a succession 
of small waterfalls, with tanks at the foot of each. The lower tank is partly 
filled with sand; the others are clean. The lower tank is readily accessible 
but for this reason is readily contaminated. It would be impossible to get close 
enough to any of the other tanks to drink from them except by very skillful 
and somewhat dangerous climbing, but water could be obtained by means of a 
short rope and a bucket. The water in these upper tanks is fairly safe from 
contamination because of their inaccessibility. Water will always be found 
here except possibly after an unusually prolonged drought. 

Mesquite Well. —An old well at what was once a stage station, about three- 
fourths of a mile south of Salome, along the road leading to Palomas, in sec. 16, 
T. 5 N., R. 13 W. It is now used by the Harquahala Livestock Co., of Wenden, 
for watering stock. It is a dug well, 3 feet in width. The owners report that 
it is 104 feet deep and that the depth to water is 98 feet. A measurement on 
September 30, 1917, showed that it was then 106 feet deep, with a depth to 
water of 102.5 feet. The windmill had been pumping slowly for a considerable 
time, so that the difference between the 98 feet reported and the 102.5 feet 
found by measurement probably indicates the amount of drawdown in this well. 
There is a gasoline engine here, as well as the windmill. Accommodations for 
travelers are not provided, but when the windmill is pumping very good drink¬ 
ing water is obtainable. (See analysis, p. 214.) 


134 
16 
657 
112 
130 
470 
7. 2 


Classification : 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use-Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 

Chemical character_Na-Cl. 

Quality for domestic use_Good. 


33 Data collected by Kirk Bryan, U. S. Geol. Survey. 


















214 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Analysis and classification of water from Mesquite Well. 


[Analyzed by F. E. Keating. Collected Sept. 30, 1017. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 26 

Iron (Fe)- . 74 

Calcium (Ca)_,_ 19 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 4. 8 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)°_ 127 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_ 252 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_ 67 

Chloride radicle (Cl)- 44 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 ) 11_1— 4.9 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 430 


Total hardness as CaCOs °- 67 

Scale forming constituents®_ 90 

Foaming constituents a _ 340 

Alkali coefficient (inches)-- 7.8 

Classification : 

Chemical character-Na—C0 3 . 

Quality for domestic use-Good. 

Quality for boiler use-Bad. 

Quality for irrigation use-Fair. 

Mineral content_Moderate. 


° Computed. 


McVay. —A station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway about 
13.4 miles east of Bouse. There is a railroad well and water tank here, but 
nothing else. No one stays here except when the well is being pumped. At 
other times water is not available. The well is 10 inches in diameter and 
343 feet deep. Water was struck at 258 feet and rose to a level 253 feet below 
the surface. The casing is perforated between the depths of 2G3 and 310 feet. 
A pumping test of 8 hours made when the well was completed showed a yield of 
about 11 gallons a minute. The following is a log of the well as reported: 


Log of railroad well at McVay. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Cement gravel (some clay streaks). 

Feet. 

2G5 

65 

13 

Feet. 

2 rr> 

330 

343 

Coarse gravel. 

Cement gravel. 



Analysis and classification of water from railroad well at McVay. 

[Analyzed by M. D. Foster. Collected Mar. 19, 1919. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 38 

Iron (Fe)_ . 13 

Calcium (Ca)_ 37 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 10 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)_270 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_149 

Sulphate radicle (SO*)_273 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_198 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 7.4 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_924 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 °_134 

Scale-forming constituents °_160 

Foaming constituents °_730 

Alkali coefficient (inches)- 7.4 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-SOi. 

Quality for domestic use_Fair. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation_Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 


° Computed. 

Mexican Mine Tanks. —See Old Mexican Mine Tanks. 

Meyers c6 Wetzel Well. —12 miles southeast of Aguila; 240 feet of water, 
275 feet deep; equipped with a gasoline pump. 

Middle Well (abandoned).—On the old road from Palomas by way of Castle 
Dome to Dome and Yuma, 28£ miles from Palomas. Put down originally to 
supply water for the King of Arizona mine, near Ivofa, in the S. H. Mountains. 
When the mine closed down Abel Figueroa bought the well to use as a water- 























































WATERING PLACES. 


215 


lll te place for stock. It was 500 feet deep, about 200 feet of which was dug 
and the rest drilled. The depth to water was 450 feet. This well is now re¬ 
ported to he caved beyond repair, and no water is obtainable here. Mr, 
Figueroa intends to drill a new well at a site nearer his ranch, which he con- 
. skiers more desirable. The new well is to be some distance east of the old 
one, and 6 or 7 miles from the present road. 

Midway .—On the Arizona & Swansea Railroad, halfway between Bouse and 
Swansea. A water tank here is kept filled by the railroad. Prospectors fre¬ 
quently camp here. Midway is less than a mile north of the point where the 
road from Wenden through Cunningham Pass to Parker reaches the railroad. 

Morris ranch. —The homestead of G. T. Morris, about a mile north of Agua 
Caliente and three-fourths of a mile off the main road. It has several build¬ 
ings and two wells. One of the wells had a hand pump, which was out of 
order at the time of visit, and the water was said to be undrinkable. The 
depth was reported as 120 feet, and the depth to water as 45 feet. This well 
was drilled about 1911. The other well is not used. It has a mine hoist but 
no pump. It was partly dug and partly drilled; the drilled portion is plugged 
with wood. The water is undrinkable. The depth is 113 feet, and the depth 
to water 47 feet. This well is said to have been sunk in 1912 and 1913. Mr. 
Morris keeps a supply of somewhat salty but drinkable water at his house. 
He hauls this from a shallow well near Agua Caliente. 

Muggins Tank .—There is reported to be a very large natural rock tank in 
the central part of the Muggins Mountains, east of Dome. This tank is said 
to have so large a capacity as to be available as a reservoir for water for 
irrigation. It is not near any road and was not visited during the present 
investigation, and nothing definite is known regarding it. 

New Water Pass. —Between the south end of the Plomosa Mountains and 
the west end of the S. H. Mountains. Water is reported to occur here and to 
be available at all seasons. Whether it is in springs or natural tanks is not 
definitely known. Prospectors frequently camp here. There is a road from 
Quartzsite to the pass, and a trail from it into the Alamo Spring country, on 
the north side of the S. H. Mountains. 

New Well —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in sec. 28, 
T. 1 S., R. 6 W. It has a horse-operated pump but no facilities for travelers. 
It is 132 feet deep, and the depth to water is 113 feet. No one lives here, 
and it is not on a regularly traveled road. 


Log of New Well. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

S 

Feet- 

8 


7 

15 


98 

113 

Pino whits cnrirl ( wat.ftr hearinsO.. ..... 

2 

115 

Afivorl paHM-ip irmvp.l nrui white sand. 

17 

132 



Norton. —A small settlement on the road between Phoenix and Yuma, 21.8 
miles west of Palomas. It has lost its importance since the freight trains that 
used to pass through it on the way to the mines near Kofa from Mohawk have 
ceased coming. Somewhat salty but drinkable water can be obtained here from 
a well that is 22 feet 'deep (16 feet to water), equipped with a windmill. There 
are several similar wells on and near the road east of this place. 















216 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Old Mexican Mine Tanks .—Reported natural rock tanks 2 miles south and a 
little east of the Old Mexican mine, which is in the Bighorn Mountains, about 
15 miles from Winters Well. These tanks are reliable only during a part of 
the year. 

Old Well .—A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in sec. 19, 
T. 1 S., R. 7 W. It has a windmill but no facilities for travelers. It is 22 feet 
deep and yields abundant water from a depth of 16 feet. No one lives here, 
and it is not on a regularly traveled road. This well is in gravel throughout. 

Onemile Well .—One of Thomas W. Bales’s cattle wells, in sec. 23, T. 7 N., 
R. 17 W. It has a windmill but no facilities for travelers. The depth is 60 feet, 
and the depth to water 40 feet. It is not on any regularly traveled road. 

Osborne Well .—A dug well at a mining camp, usually unoccupied, in the 
Buckskin Mountains, about 1 mile north of the road from Wenden through 
Cunningham Pass to Parker and 14 miles east of Parker. It is easily reached 
by branch roads from the highway. The well is equipped with a, windlass 
and buckets and a small gasoline engine. It is 111 feet deep, and the depth 
to water is 101.9 feet, measured from the curb, which is about 4 feet above 
the surface of the ground. These measurements were made September 21, 
1917. At the time of visit the water had a distinct odor and was probably 
contaminated with dead animals. This well penetrates calcareous conglom¬ 
erate for part of its depth, to judge by the material on the dump. 

Palomas .—On the road between Phoenix and Yuma, 15.4 miles from Agua 
Caliente and 85.5 miles from Yuma. Somewhat salty but entirely drinkable 
water can be obtained at Nottbusch’s store here. It comes from a well behind 
the store equipped with a windmill and small gasoline engine. The well 
has a depth of 20 feet and a depth to water of 16 feet. 

There are two or three small Mexican ranches along the old road from 
Palomas to Agua Caliente, at which water might be obtained. Among other 
wells in and near Palomas are J. F. Nottbusch’s well, in the NE. \ sec. 18, 
T. 6 S., R. 12 W., depth reported as 54 feet, depth to water in October, 1917, 
39 feet; depth to water when first dug (1913), 45 feet; water of good 
quality; and M. B. Derrick’s well, in sec. 7 or 18, T. 6 S., R. 12 W., depth 
reported as 60 to 65 feet, depth to water 50 feet, equipped with a 15-horse- 
power gasoline engine, furnishes water to irrigate 30 acres. 

Palomas Mountains, tanks in .—There are reported to be a number of natural 
rock tanks in the Palomas Mountains, some of which are reliable at all 
seasons. The Land Office plat shows water holes in sec. 21, T. 4 S., R. 14 W. 

Palo Verde .—On the road between Phoenix and Yuma, 42 miles from Phoenix, 
in sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 4 W. Fairly good water is available here at all times. 
Data on representative wells in this locality are given below. 

Records of wells in the vicinity of Palo Verde, Ariz. 


• 

Owner or name. 

Location. 

Qual¬ 
ity of 
water. 

Type of 
well. 

Depth 
of well. 

Diam¬ 
eter of 
well. 

Quar¬ 

ter. 

Sec¬ 

tion. 

Town¬ 

ship. 

Range. 

Dr. G. G. Rubel. 

Harper. 


4 

4 

1 S. 

1 S. 

1 S. 

4 W. 

4 W. 

5 W. 

Good.. 
Bad... 

Drilled.. 

. _.do. 

Feet. 

79* 

150 

168 

Inches. 

Hassayampa ranch of Flower Pot 
Cattle Co. (Geo. Coke, resi¬ 
dence). 

SE. 

Good.. 

• 

... do • • • ■ • 

i 





























WATERING PLACES. 217 


Records of icells in the vicinity of Palo Verde , Ariz.— Continued. 


Owner or name. 

Aquifers. 

, 

Water 

level 

below 

sur¬ 

face. 

| 

Method of lift. 

Yield. 

Use of water. 

Depth 

to 

prin¬ 

cipal 

aqui¬ 

fer. 

Depth 

to 

other 

aqui¬ 

fers. 

Dr. G. G.Rubel. 

Feet. 

64 

64 

168 

Feet. 

Feet. 

64 

64 

30 

Windmill 


Domestic, irriga¬ 
tion. 

Do. 

Domestic, stock. 

Harper. 

150 

a 30 

Hand pump and 
windmill. 
Windmill. 


Hassayampa ranch of 
Flower Pot Cattle Co. 
(Geo. Coke, residence). 

Was slow; 
improving. 



«In silt. 


Palo Verde mine .—An old mine now used as a watering place for stock by 
the Harquahala Livestock Co., on the road between Phoenix and Parker, 21.5 
miles from Palo Verde, in sec. 36, T. 2 N., R. 8 W. A caretaker lives here, and 
fairly good water can always be obtained. The old shaft is 194 feet deep. 
When visited, September 18, 1917, the water stood in it at a depth of 162 feet. 
The level is reported to rise in wet seasons within 125 feet of the surface. 
The shaft is equipped with a pump and gasoline engine. 

Parker .—The principal town in Arizona on the Parker cut-off road from 
Phoenix to Los Angeles. It is in sec. 1, T. 9 N., R. 20 W., and sec. 36, T. 10 N., 
R. 20 W., on the Colorado, where the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 
crosses the river. There is also a ferry across the river at this point. Good 
water is always available here. Data on representative wells in this locality 
are given in the table on page 218. For a discussion of the possibilities of irri¬ 
gation from the ground water of the river flood plain in the Colorado River 
Indian Reservation near Parker, see pages 108-117. 

The railroad well at Parker is 10 inches in diameter and 225 feet deep. Its 
water level is 68 feet below the surface. The casing below the depth of 110 feet 
is perforated. In a pumping test of 10 hours this well is reported by the 
railroad company to have yielded at the rate of 150 gallons a minute. The 
following log was furnished by the railroad company: 

Log of railroad well at Parker , Ariz. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Sand and gravel. 

Feet. 

64 

46 

15 

25 

4 

71 

Feet. 

64 

110 

125 

150 

154 

225 

Clay (a little water). 

Limestone (probably caliche). 

Cemented gravel and sand (some water). 

Conglomerate. 

Cemented gravel and sand (water).J. 



















































218 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


I 


Records of toells at Parker. 


Owner 


Location. 

_ 


Quali- 

Type 
of well. 

Depth 
of well. 

Diam- 

Depth 
to prin¬ 
cipal 
aquifer. 

Character of 

or 

name. 

Quar¬ 

ter. 

Sec¬ 

tion. 

Town¬ 

ship. 

Range. 

ty of 
water. 

eter 
of well. 

water-bearing 

material. 

B. D Flynn... 

N. i 

32 

3 N. 

1 E. 

Fair .. 

Drilled. 

Feet. 

105 

Inches. 

10 

Feet. 

Gravel. 

Ice-plant well, 

SE. 

32 

3 N. 

1 E. 

Good.. 

Dug ... 

±80 

7 

72.6 

Quicksand. 

Parker Im¬ 
provement 
Co. 

J. F. Raney.. 


5 

2 N. 

1 E. 

.. .do... 

1 

Drilled. 

±70 

6,12 

68 

Gravel. 

Atchison, To¬ 
peka & San¬ 
ta Fe Ry. 

Pail road station_ 


Fair .. 

.. .do_ 

225 

10 

154 

Cemen ted 









gravel and 
sand. 



Depth 

Water level. 


Yield 

(gallons 

per 

minute). 

/ 

Date of 
comple¬ 
tion of 
well. 

Owner or name. 

to 

which 
well is 
cased. 

Be¬ 

low 

sur¬ 

face. 

Date of 
measurement. 

Method of lift. 

Use of 
water. 

B. D. Flynn. 

Feet. 

105 

Feet. 

60 

Sept. 26,1917 

6-horsepower 

20 

Town sup- 

Mar., 1915 

Ice-plant well, Par- 

±80 

72.6 

. • . > • ^ Oaaa« aaa> 

Foos gasoline 
engine. 

American .8 by 

140 

ply. 

Town sup- 

1918 

ker Improvement 
Co. 

J. F. Raney. 

±70 

68 

• a a a a (1 0 a a a . . a aa 

36 inch pump. 

F. M. 9-horse- 

60 

ply and 
ice plant. 
Domestic. 

1911 

Atchison, Topeka 

225 

68 

Sept. 27,1917 

power gasoline 
engine. 

F. M. 12 by 36 

150 

Railroad. 

N 

July,1916 

& Santa Fe Ry. 



inch pump. 




Analyses and classification of water from ivells in Parker. 

[Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 ). 

Iron (Fe). 

Calcium (Ca). 

Magnesium (Mg). 

Sodium and potassium (Na+K) 

Carbonate radicle (CO 3 ). 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO 3 ). 

Sulphate radicle (SOQ. 

Chloride radicle (Cl). 

Nitrate radicle (NO 3 ). 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C.. 

Totai hardness as CaCCL a.. 

Scale-forming constituents a. 

Foaming constituents a. 

Alkali coefficient (inches). 

Classification. 

Chemical character. 

Quality for domestic use 

Quality for boiler use. 

Quality for irrigation use 

Mineral content. 

Date of collection. 

Analyst. 


a Computed. 


1 

2 

3 

24 

29 

22 

.60 

.08 

.13 

21 

61 

52 

2.1 

19 

5.2 

a 249 

a 94 

318 

.0 

.0 

.0 

116 

175 

114 

166 

119 

221 

236 

118 

363 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

742 

634 

1,038 

61 

230 

151 

89 

240 

' 180 

670 

250 

860 

6.5 

16 

6.2 

Na-Ci. 

Ca-Cl. 

Na-Cl. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Very bad. 

Poor. 

Very bad. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

High. 

High. 

High. 

Sept. 26, 1917 

Sept. 26, 1917 

Mar. 25, 1919 

F. E. Keating 

F. E. Keating 

M. D. Foster 


1. Drilled well 105 feet deep, of B. D. Flynn, in N. l sec. 32, T. 3 N. f R. 1 E. 

2. Drilled well about 70 feet deep, of F. j. Raney, in sec. 5, T. 2 N., R. 1 E. 

3. Drilled well 225 feet deep, of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. 









































































































WATERING PLACES. 


219 


Peoria—A station and town on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad, 
about 131 miles from Phoenix. Water and other supplies are obtainable. 

Peroxide Well .—A cattle well owned by the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in sec. 15, 
T. 1 N., R. 5 W. It has a windmill but no facilities for travelers. It is 88 feet 
deep, and the depth to water is 34 feet. No one lives here, and it is not on a 
regularly traveled road. 

Log of Peroxide Well. 


Thickness., Depth. 


Feet. 


Fret. 


Sand and gravel 

Sand.. 

Red clay. 


34 

4 

50 | 


34 

3& 

8S 


Peters Well .—An old dug well on the road from Wenden by way of Harri s- 
burg Valley to Phoenix, 11 miles south of Wenden, in sec. 6, T. 12 N., R. 5 W. T1 e 
owner is Pete Navarez, who uses it for watering stock. It is equipped with s. 
pump and gasoline engine. A supply of fairly good water is usually kept in 
the tank. The well is 5 feet in diameter and 126 feet deep. In October, 1917, the 
water level was at a depth of 83.2 feet. 


Analysis and classification of water from Peters Well. 

[Analyzed by F. E. Keating. Collected Oct. 1, 1917. Parts per million except as- 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 15 

Iron (Fe)_ 1. 8 

Calcium (Ca)_ 6.4 

Magnesium (Mg)- 2. 1 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)°_ 338 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )- 29 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )- 454 

Sulphate radicle (SO t )- 77 

Chloride radicle (Cl)- 144 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )- 67 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 919 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 n _ 25 

Scale-forming constituents a _ 37 

Foaming constituents “_ 910 

Alkali coefficient (inches)- 2. (> 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-C0 3 . 

Quality for domestic use_Fair.. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad, 

Quality for irrigation_Poor. 

Mineral content-High. 


“ Computed. 


Phoenix .—The capital of Arizona. An abundant supply of somewhat salty 
but otherwise good water is obtained from wells. (See p. 152.) 


Record of wells of Phoenix Water Department. 




Depth 
of well. 

Piam- 

Yield (gallons per 
minute). 


No. 

Type of well or spring. 

eter of 
well. 

Pump. 

Date of 
measure¬ 
ment. 

Remarks. 

l 


Feet. 

140 

180 

210 

125 

125 

234 

420 

50 

160 

180 

212 

150 

Inches. 

12 

12 

12 

16 

16 

16 

16 

180 

12 

12 

12 

1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
2,000 
2,000+ 
a2,400 
1,800 


Drawdown 14 feet. 
Do. 

9 



Q 



4 



5 


Sept., 1914. 
.do. 

g 


7 


.do. 







r>n . 



Tin .... 


r>r> . 



1 . 


a When pumping 2,400 gallons per minute from well No. G water level is lowered about 2 feet in all other 


wells. 





















































































220 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Popper Well .—A drilled well 6 miles west of the Palo Verde mine, owned 
jointly by the Harquahala Livestock Co. and Richard Popper and used for 
watering stock. It is uncased and 290 feet deep; the depth to water is 270 feet. 
The water is reported to be good, but the amount is inadequate, and the well is 
to be drilled deeper. This well was drilled in 1915. 

Quail Springs .—A watering place in the Gila Bend Mountains in Maricopa 
County. Water is reported to be obtained here eight or nine months of the 
year. The ground is moist throughout the year. 

Quartzsite .—A small town on La Posa Plain, probably in sec. 33, T. 4 N., 
R. 19 W. F'airly good water is always obtainable at the well in front of the 
post office. Data on representative wells in this locality are given below. 


Records of wells in Quartzsite. 


Owner. 

Quality of 
water. 

Type 

of 

well. 

Depth 

of 

well. 

Diam¬ 

eter 

of 

well. 

Depth 

to 

prin¬ 

cipal 

aquifer. 

Water 
level 
below 
surface 
(Oct. 6, 
1917). 

Method bf 
lift. 

Use of 
water. 

C. V. Kuehn. 

Good, soft. 

.. .do. 

Dug... 
.. .do .. 

Feet. 

31.5 

Inches. 

48 

Feet. 

Feet. 

26.8 

Windmill. 

Domestic. 

Fred Kuehn. 

38.6 

60 


35.9 

.. .do. 

Stock. 

Do. 

.. .do. 

_do .. 

46 

60 

42 

.. .do. 

Domestic. 







Red Tanks Well .—A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in 
sec. 34, T. 1 S., R. 6 W. It has a windmill but no facilities for travelers. It is 
116 feet deep, and the depth to water is 33 feet. The supply of water is not 
large at any time and is unreliable in dry seasons. No one lives here, and it is 
not on a regularly traveled road. The formations penetrated are similar to 
those in New Well. Water-bearing strata were encountered at depths of 80 
and 116 feet. 

Redwater Well .—A cattle w r ell belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., on 
unsurveyed land in sec. 15, T. 1 S., R. 8 W. It has a windmill but no facilities 
for travelers. It is 50 feet (?) deep, and the depth to water is 50 feet. No one 
lives here, and it is not on a regularly traveled road. This well penetrated 
gravel throughout and encountered water in bedrock at the bottom. 

Reed, Cashin Land & Sheep CoSs wells .—In sec. 7, T. 7 N., R. 11 W. and sec. 2, 
T. 6 N., It. 12 W. In the former the depth to water is 196 feet. The wells are 
equipped with gasoline engines. The yield from each well is about 13,000 gallons 
in 24 hours. 

Remada ranch .—Home ranch of the Renada Ranch Cattle Co., in Butler Val¬ 
ley, sec. 2, T. 8 N., R. 14 W. The well at this place furnishes a sufficient supply 
of good water for domestic use and for watering stock. It is 388 feet deep, 
and the depth to water is 340 feet. (For description of Butler Well, also 
owned by this company, see p. 205.) 

Reynolds Well . 21 —Between Wellton and Dome, in the SE. i sec. 4, T. 9 S., 
R. 19 W. Owned by J. F. Reynolds, of Wellton. It is 54 feet deep, 5 inches in 
diameter, and equipped with a cylinder and 3^-horsepower gasoline engine. The 
depth to water is 13 feet. 

Rogers Well .—A cattle well near the northwest end of the Bighorn Mountains, 
reported to be reliable at all seasons. 

Salome ,—A small town and station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 
Railway, in sec. 9, T. 5 N., R. 13 W. Good water is always available at the 


w Data collected by Kirk Bryan, U. S. Geol. Survey. 


































WATERING PLACES. 


221 


^toie. It comes from the railroad well, which is 10 inches in diameter and 237 
feet deep. In this well the first water was struck at a depth of 127 feet, but 
the principal supply apparently comes from coarse sand at the bottom. The 
water level in the well is reported to be 125 feet below the surface. When 
completed the well was tested at 7,300 gallons an hour, or about 120 gallons a 
minute. The following is the log of the well as reported by the railroad 
company: 

Log of railroad well at Salome. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Sand and light gravel. 

Feet. 

55 

(52 

14 

96 

10 

Feet. 

55 

117 

131 

227 

237 

Clav... . 

Soft sand; first water at 127 feet‘.. 

Granite boulders. 

Coarse sand. 



Analysts and classification of water from railroad toell at Salome. 

[Analyzed by F. E. Keating. Collected Sept. 30, 1917. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 22 

Iron (Fe)- . 25 

Calcium (Ca)_ 11 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 5.4 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)°_113 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_207 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_58 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 40 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 9.4 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_361 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 “_ 50 

Scale-forming constituents “_ 63 

Foaming constituents a _300 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 8.8 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-C0 3 . 

Quality for domestic use-Good. 

Quality for boiler use_Bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Fair. 

Mineral content_Moderate. 


• Computed. 

The well of E. S. Jones, in the NE. * sec. 9, T. 5 N., R. 13 W., is drilled 202 
feet deep and has a water level about 100 feet below the surface. Mr. Jones 
reports a seasonal variation of 3 or 4 feet in the water level. The first water 
was encountered at a depth of 135 feet. When a depth of 202 feet was reached 
a large supply was obtained and the water rose rapidly to a level 100 feet 
below the surface. The well has a 6-inch casing and is equipped with a Myers 
deep-well pump and gasoline engine. It has a yield of about 35 gallons a minute. 

Near the road between Salome and Wenden, about 3£ miles from Salome, is 
a dug well at an abandoned homestead. It is 3 feet in diameter and 103 feet 
deep, and the depth to water is 100 feet. A tin can and some wire, by means 
of which water could be obtained, were found at the time of visit. A mile 
west of this well is another deserted homestead with a dry well 106 feet deep. 

Sand Tank .—On the road between Cibola and Quartzsite, 12 miles south of 
Quartzsite, near the west border of La Posa Plain. Small amounts of good 
water can always be obtained by digging a foot or two in the sand of a large 
wash on either side of the road. When visited in 1918 the most favorable place 
appeared to be near the north bank of the wash on the east side of the road. 

Santo Domingo Tank .—In the mountains r i\ miles northwest of Hot Springs 
Junction, near the road from Phoenix to Wickenburg. Water is reported to 
occur at all seasons in the sand of Santo Domingo Wash, about 300 yards 
downstream from the road. The water flows on the surface in the rainy season. 

Southicest Cotton Co.’s wells .—On a large cotton ranch north of Avondale, 
in Tps. 1 and 2 N., Rs. 1 and 2 W. The company has 15 wells in these town- 










































LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


909 

LJ 


ships from which it intends to irrigate. None of these are watering places for 
travelers, but water could doubtless be obtained at any of them should the 
need arise. All the wells obtain water in gravel. 

Records of drilled wells of Southwest Cotton Co. near Avondale, in T. ?, N„ 

R. 1 W. 


Legation. 

Alti¬ 

tude. 

Depth 

of 

well. 

Diam¬ 

eter 

of 

well. 

Quarter. 

Sec¬ 

tion. 



Feet. 

Feet. 

Inches. 

W. .\ . . .. 

12 

1,035.7 

227 

16 

1 ’ 

r-Jfl 

CO 

28 

1,009.71 

278 

16 


33 

1,009. 7 

288 

16 

NE. 

14 

1,045.4 

303 

26 

Center.. 

34 

999.52 

200 

16 

NE. 

14 

1,046.8 

343 

26 

SE 

21 

1 041 3 

160 


NE 

34 

1 004.4 

66 


SE. 

11 

1,043.96 

219 

16 

w. J- 

12 

1,040. 29 

189 

16 

SE. 

11 

1,044.41 

202 

16 

W.J.... 

12 

1,051.0 

186 

16 

NE. 

25 


308 

16 

NE. 

22 

1,045.2 

124 

26 

NW. 

7 

1,112.26 

312.5 

16 


Depth 

to 

princi¬ 

pal 

aqui¬ 

fer. 


Depth to ( 
other 
aquifers.: 


Feet. 

56-83 

103 

224 

55 


Feet. 


35.9,249 
/107-124 ! 
\170-183 


92 

40 


130 

70 

70 

57 


55 

137 




66 

199 


42-60 
120-130 
167-177 
96-110 
135-145 
157-168 
204-216 
244-258 
40-42 
104-115 
r 98-106 
112-118 


Depth 
to 

went B sl f r ow * 

cased. faee- 


Water level. 


Feet. 




100 


100 

” 66 ' 


Date of meas¬ 
urement. 


Feet. 
12. 7* 

35.9 

37.5 

25.1 

25.6 

22.5 
59 
27 

13.9 

14.5 
16.3 

9.2 


67.4 

30.3 

87.46 


Sept. 7,1917 
.do. 

.do. 


July 14,1917 


Date of com¬ 
pletion of 
well. 


Sept. 8,1917 


Sept. 8,1917 
.do. 


1912 

Aug. 10,1917 

July 15,1917 

Julv 3,1917 
1917 
1917 

June 1,1917 


Apr. 30,1917 
Apr. 13,1917 


Mar. 7,1917 


Feb. 12,1917 


Star Well (abandoned).— 2} miles north of Deep Well, in the S. H. Moun¬ 
tains. Put down to supply water for the North Star mine. It is 1,200 to 
1,300 feet deep but is now out of repair and no water can be obtained from it. 

State Well. —In Loudermilk Wash, in the Gila Bend Mountains, Maricopa 
County. Also known as Loudermilk Well. It is reached by a road half a 
mile long from a point o,n the new road across the Gila Bend Mountains, 20 
miles from Agua Caliente. This road formerly returned to the new road near 
Yellow Medicine Tank and continued to Arlington but is now impracticable 
beyond State Well. The well is shallow. It is cribbed with planks, and if 
it were protected from contamination by dead animals the water in it would 
be very good. On October 30, 1917, the water level was 5 feet below the top 
of the cribbing, which is 3 feet above the surface of the ground. 

Fred Stokes Well. —On unsurveyed land 3 miles east and G miles south from 
Aguila. The depth to water is 265 feet, and the depth of the well is 300 feet. 
It is equipped with a gasoline engine. 

T. B. Stokes Well. —In sec. 32, T. 7 N., R. 8 W. The depth to water is 390 
feet, and the total depth 420 feet. The well is equipped with a windmill and 
gasoline engine. 

Surprise Well. —A cattle well of the Flower Pot Cattle Co., on the new road 
across the Gila Bend Mountains, 14£ miles west of Arlington. This well is 42 
feet deep and has a 4-inch casing. It was drilled to bedrock. The drill passed 
through hard dry caliche to a depth of 41 feet, where water was encountered 
that rose at once to a level 24 feet below the surface. This is a reliable well 
for stock and yields good drinking water. There are 110 facilities for trav¬ 
elers, but water can easily be obtained whenever there is enough wind to 
operate the windmill. 









































































WATERING PLACES. 


223 


Analysis and classification of water from Surprise Well. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Jan. 12, 1918. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (SiO,)_ 55 

Iron (Fo)_ .13 

Calcium (Ca)_ 68 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 43 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) a _ 293 

Carbonate radicle (CO a )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCOy)_ 363 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_ 234 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 306 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ 12 


Total dissolved solids at 180° C_ 1, 248 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 °_ 346 

Scale-forming constituents °_ 330 

Foaming constituents®_ 790 

Alkali coefficient (inches)__ ' 6.1 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-Cl. 

Quality for domestic use_Poor. 

Quality for boiler use_Very bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Fair. 

Mineral content_High. 


" Computed. 


Sicansea. —A mining and smelting town in the Buckskin Mountains, one 
terminus of the Arizona & Swansea Railroad. Water is pumped here from 
Williams River, 4 or 5 miles distant. 25 

Tenmile Well. —One of Thomas W. Bales’s cattle wells, 10 miles southeast 
of Bouse and about the same distance northwest of Desert Well. It has a 
windmill 'but no facilities for travelers. It is 125 feet deep, and the depth 
to water is 80 feet. The well is not on any regularly traveled road. 

Thumb Butte mine. —In the southern part of the Castle Dome Mountains, 
on a road that was formerly one of the routes between Yuma and Phoenix 
but is now little used beyond this mine. The mine is 21 miles from Dome. 
When the mine was visited in October, 1917, no one was found, but there is 
usually a caretaker at the property. No work was then in progress. Water 
stood in the shaft at a depth of 228 feet. There is also water in several 
shallow prospect holes in the immediate vicinity. This is much more accessible 
than that in the shaft. 

Thumb Butte Tank. —In a wash north of the road a quarter of a mile east 
of the Thumb Butte mine. Water can be obtained by digging in the sand, 
except in very dry seasons. 

Tolladay’s Well. —At the southeast end of Harrisburg Valley, near the old 
dam site 5 miles southeast of Salome. It is the headquarters for the Parker 
Cattle Co. in this portion of Yuma County. Water is available for travelers 
at all times. The analysis below shows that it is of good quality. The sample 
from which this analysis was made was taken from the dug well, which was 
the only one in existence here when the locality was first visited. Since that 
time a drilled well has been completed a few yards from the old one. The 
dug well is 4 feet in diameter and is equipped with hand pump and gasoline 
engine; the depth to water is 80.6 feet. The new drilled well is 82 feet deep. 


Log of neiv Tolladay Well. • 



Thickness. 

Depth. 


Feet. 

7 

Feet. 

7 


69 

76 


6 

82 





26 Bancroft, Howland, Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, 
Ariz. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 451, p. 59, 1911. 






































224 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


Analysis and classification of water from Tolladaifs dug well. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Oct. 2, 1917. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 44 

Iron (Fe)_ .18 

Calcium (Ca)_ 43 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 18 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)“_155 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )_404 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_100 

Chloride radicle (Cl) __ 58 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ .45 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C_630 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 °-181 

Scale-forming constituents a _210 

Foaming constituents a -420 

Alkali coefficient (inches)- 7. 1 

Classification : 

Chemical character-Na—C0 3 .- 

Quality for domestic use-Good- 

Quality for boiler use_Bad. 

Quality for irrigation_Fair. 

Mineral content_High, 


c Computed. 

Torrance Well— In the SW. i SW. i sec. 12, T. 7 N., R. 8 W. Owned'by 
Clay Torrance. Depth to water 430 feet, total depth 510 feet. 

Tub Spring .—In the mountains east of Wickenburg. Tub Spring Wash con¬ 
tains water in the sand both above and below the road at all seasons. Water 
flows on the surface during the rainy season. This place is reached by roads 
leading off the main road between Wickenburg and Phoenix, both east and 
west of it, accommodating travelers in both directions. The eastern road forks 
off the main one 7 miles from Hot Springs Junction and is 1-1 miles long. 
The other fork is 10 miles from Wickenburg, and the distance to the wash 
from the fork is three-fourths of a mile. 

Tule Tank .—A natural tank in the central part of the Gila Bend Mountains 
in Maricopa County midway between the two roads that cross the range. Water 
can be obtained here eight or nine months out of every year, and the ground 
is moist throughout the year. 

Twentymile Well .—One of Thomas W. Bales’s cattle wells, 4 miles south¬ 
west of Desert Well, in the Ranegras Plains, 0.7 mile from the office of the 
Shamrock Mining Co. on the north side of the Bear Hills, and 2.6 miles east 
of a fork on the Quartzsite-Vicksburg road, marked by a Geological Survey 
sign. The roads leading to it are difficult for automobiles because of high 
centers, and the well should be used as a watering place by travelers only 
in an emergency. No facilities for travelers are provided, but the well is 
equipped with a windmill and tank. It is 256 feet deep, and the depth to 
water is 216 feet. 

Uster Well .—In the SW. ^ SE. i sec. 21, T. 7 N., R. 9 W. Owned by Frank 
Uster. Depth to water 362 feet, total depth 372 feet. The well is equipped 
with a windmill. 

Van Hagen Well .—One of the Flower Pot Cattle Co.’s wells, on unsurveyed 
ground in sec. 19, T. 2 S., R. 6 W., near the old road across the Gila Bend 
Mountains. Although it is equipped with a windmill, there are no facilities 
for travelers and it is an unsatisfactory watering place. It had to be shot 
before any water was obtained, and the supply is now intermittent and un¬ 
reliable. It is 40 feet deep, and the depth to water is 28 feet. It is bottomed 
in bedrock. 






















WATERING PLACES. 


225 


Analysis and classification of water from Van Hagen Well. 

[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Oct 28, 1917. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.! 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 81 

Iron (Fe)- .20 

Calcium (Ca)_ 36 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 20 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)°_ 123 

Carbonate radicle (C0 3 )_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 2 )_ 468 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )_ 14 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 28 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 )_ .16 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C— 535 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 a _ 172 

Scale-forming constituents °_ 220 

Foaming constituents °_ 330 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 6.1 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Na-CO s . 

Quality for domestic use_Good. 

Quality for boiler use_Bad. 

Quality for irrigation use_Fair, 

Mineral content_High, 


° Computed. 


Vicksburg. —A station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 20 miles 
east of Bouse, in sec. 30, T. 5 N., R. 14 W. There is no well here, but the 
railroad company keeps a supply of water in the cistern at the section fore¬ 
man’s house, which is available for travelers. The railroad company drilled 
a 10-inch hole here to a depth of 238 feet in 1910 without obtaining any water. 
The first 200 feet was in gravel and sand and the last 38 feet in granite. 

Vinegaron Well. —One of Thomas W. Bales’s cattle wells, about 13 miles 
south of Harqualiala and 6 miles west of the pass through which the Harqua- 
hala road crosses the Eagletail Mountains. It has a windmill but no facilities 
for travelers. It is 357 feet deep, and the depth to water is 332 feet. No one 
lives here, and it is not on a regularly traveled road. This well is also called 
Coyote Well. 

Volcanic Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., on 
unsurveyed ground in sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 8 W. It has a windmill but no facili¬ 
ties for travelers. It is 99 feet deep, and the depth to ivater is 88 feet. No 
one lives here, and it is not on any regularly traveled road. Water-bearing 
strata were encountered at depths of 68, 88, and 99 feet. The lowest stratum 
contained a small supply of bitter water, and consequently the casing was 
pulled back to 88 feet, where sufficient water is now obtained. 


Log of Volcanic Well. 



Thickness. 

Depth. 

Caliche (some water at 68 feet). 

Feet. 

8 8 

1 

11 

Feet. 

88 

89 

100 

White sand (water bearing). 

Red clay.„. 

White sand (water bearing). 


Vulture mine. —An old and well-known mine 13.7 miles by road south of 
Wickenburg. It is not now being worked, but a caretaker lives at the prop¬ 
erty, and water can usually be obtained. There is a drilled well here, said 
to be 2,000 feet deep, but it is not in use. 

Vulture Well. —A cattle well belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co., in 
sec. 36, T. 4 N., R. 5 W. It has a windmill but no facilities for travelers. It 
is 162 feet deep and penetrates sand and gravel, with boulders throughout. 







































226 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


The depth to water is 138 feet. No one lives here, and it is not on a regularly 
traveled road. 

Webb Well. —In a wash just north of the old road across the Gila Bend 
Mountains, 121 miles from Arlington. It was dug in 1017 to supply water for 
testing the ores of the Arizona Gold Hill Mining Co. When visited in January, 
1918, it was 32 feet deep, and the depth to water was 28.8 feet. Of the total 
depth, 5 feet was in rock (agglomerate). It was the intention of the owners 
to sink still deeper in the hope of obtaining a larger supply of water. The 
drawdown in the well was 3.5 feet when pumping 5 gallons a minute. The 
analysis below shows that the water contains a small quantity of total solids; 
it is a very good drinking water. 

Analysis and classification of water from Webb Well. 


{Analyzed by M. D. Foster. Collected Oct. 28, 1917. Farts per million except as 

otherwise designated. 1 


Silica (Si0 2 )_ 4G 

Iron (Fe)_ 1. 7 

Calcium (Ca)_ 51 

Magnesium (Mg)_ 15 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K)°_30 

Carbonate radicle (CO.O_ .0 

Bicarbonate radicle (IIC0 3 )_284 

Sulphate radicle (SOJ_ G. 1 

Chloride radicle (Cl)_ 11 

Nitrate radicle (NO»)_ .20 

Total dissolved solids at 1S0° C_291 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 *_ 189 

Scale-forming constituents a _220 

Foaming constituents 0 _ 81 

Alkali coefficient (inches)_ 28 

Classification : 

Chemical character_Ca-C0 3 . 

Quality for domestic use_Good. 

Quality for boiler use-Foor. 

Quality for irrigation use_Good. 

Mineral content_Moderate. 


0 Computed. 

Wellton. —A town and station on the Southern Pacific Railroad 38£ miles 
east of Yuma. Water is obtainable here at all times but is not of the best 
quality. The Southern Pacific Co. has drilled four wells here. The deepest 
one was finished in 1904. It is 1,120 feet deep, and the water stands 58 feet 
below the surface. The supply is reported to be abundant, but the quality is 
bad. For the logs of these wells see pages S0-S1. 

Wenden. —A small town and station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 
Railway about 57 miles from Parker. Good water is available at all times 
from the schoolhouse well. Data on representative wells in this locality are 
given below. The town water supply comes from a deep well at the school- 
house. 


Records of ivells in the vicinity of Wenden , T. 6 N., R. 12 IF. 


Owner or name. 

Location. 

Quality of 
water. 

Depth 
of well. 

Depth 
to water. 

Yield. 

Use of water. 

Quarter. 

Section. 





Feet. 

Feet. 




NW. 

32 


rs.s 

94 



Mrs. Crowder. 

NE. 

30 

Bad . 

210 

120 

Ample.. 

Domestic. 

Old town well. 


31 


105.5 

49 

Schoolhouse well. 


29 

Good. 

777 

100 

Ample.. 

Town supply. 


















































WATERING PLACES. 


227 


Analysis ancl classification of ground-water supplies at Wenden. 


[Analyzed by F. E. Keating. Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 


Silica (SiC> 2 ) r.. 

Iron (Fe). 

Calcium (Ca). 

Magnesium (Mg). 

Sodium and potassium 

(Na+K) a . 

Carbonate radicle (CO3). 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 ). 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 ). 

Chloride radicle (Cl). 

Nitrate radicle (NO3). 

Total dissolved solids at 

180° C. 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 o... 


1 

2 


1 

2 

21 

13 

Scale-forming constituents a 

40 

73 

1.4 

1.7 

Foaming constituents a . 

280 

2,500 

5.6 

13 

Alkali coefficient (inches)... 

8.9 

1.8 

1.8 

13 






Classification: 



103 

923 

Chemical character. 

Na-C0 3 . 

Na-Cl. 

4.8 

11 

Quality for domestic use 

Good. 

Bad. 

181 

157 

Quality for boiler use.... 

Bad. 

Very bad. 

49 

592 

Quality for irrigation 

Fair. 

Poor. 

23 

918 

use. 



6.2 

39 

Mineral content. 

Moderate. 

Very 





high. 

351 

2,702 

Date of collection (1917). 

Oct. 1. 

Oct. 2. 

21 

86 

1 

t 




o Computed. 

1. Deep well at schoolhouse. 

2. Old town well, dug 105J feet deep. 


White Tanks, Maricopa County .—Reported to be a reliable series of rock 
tanks in the northern part of the White Tank Mountains in Maricopa County, 
west of Agua Fria River. Probably other rock tanks occur in this range also. 

White Tanks, Yuma County .—Reported to be a reliable series of large 
tanks in the White Tank Mountains northwest of the Palomas Mountains in 
Yuma County, accessible by trail from Palomas. The same name is sometimes 
applied to a series of tanks in the Castle Dome Mountains, farther west. 

Wickenburg .—A town and station on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix 
Railroad, in Maricopa County. In 1920 the population was 572. Water is ob¬ 
tained from wells and is available at all times. 

Willow Spring .—In the Eagletail Mountains, about 1 mile south of Court¬ 
house Rock, on an old road, now used only by an occasional horseman. In 
November, 1917, the water level was reported to be 10 feet below the curbing. 

Willow Tanks .—Natural tanks on the new road across the Gila Bend Moun¬ 
tains, 25 miles from Arlington. There are three tanks, two about 50 yards 
west of the road and visible from it and one in a small side wash just off the 
large wash about 200 yards east of the road. All three hold water most of 
the year but are dry after protracted drought. They are rock tanks, but 
those west of the road are partly filled with sand. As the tanks are unpro¬ 
tected the water in them is usually so dirty as to be unsatisfactory for human 
consumption. 

Wilson Well , 26 —A dug well between Dome and Yuma, in sec. 34, T. 7 S., 
R. 22 W. Owned by John Wilson. It is 4 feet square and 14.5 feet deep and 
is equipped with a windmill and galvanized-iron tank having a capacity of 
7,500 gallons. The depth to water is 11.5 feet. 

Winters Wells .—On the cattle ranch of E. H. Winters, of Phoenix, on the 
Parker cut-off, 15 miles from Palo Verde. There are three wells at the home 
place, where water is available for travelers at all seasons. Eight other wells 
are scattered over the ranch. Data on all these wells are given in the table 
below. The data were furnished from memory by E. R. Beedle, ranch foreman, 
and the locations of some of the wells may not be accurately given. The wells 
are equipped with windmills, and Mr. Beedle states that at times the lack of 


20 Data collected by Kirk Bryan, U. S. Geol. Survey. 
40417—23--16 


I 




































228 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


wind is a serious inconvenience. Rarely for six weeks at a time there may not 
be sufficient wind to operate the windmills. 

Records of wells belonging to E. H. Winters. 



Location. 

Quality 
of water. 

Type of 
well or 
spring. 

Depth 
of w r ell. 

i 

Diameter 
of well. 

Quarter. 

Section. 

Town¬ 

ship. 

Range. 








Feet. 

Inches. 

1. 

NE. 

7 

1 N. 

6 W. 

Good.... 

Drilled.. 

1S5 

6,4 

2. 

NE. 

7 

1 N. 

6 W. 

. ..do. 

Dug. 

95 

96 

3. 

SE. 

25 

1 N. 

7 W. 

...do_ 

Drilled.. 

160 

4 

4. 

SW. 

35 

1 N. 

7 W. 

...do_ 

...do- 

130 

6 

5. 

sw. 

32 

IN. 

6 W. 

...do_ 

...do- 

170 

4 

6. 

SE. 

18 

1 N. 

6 W. 

...do_ 

...do.... 

150 

6 



14-15 

1 N. 

6 W. 

...do.... 

.. .do_ 

38 

4 

8. 


35,36 

1 N. 

6 W. 

...do.... 

.. .do.... 

160 

4 

9. 

NW. 

'17 

1 N. 

6 W. 

...do.... 

.. .do.. .. 

160 

4 

10 

Unsurveyed. 

10 

3 N. 

8 W. 

_do.... 


21 


11 

.do...... 

10 

3 N. 

v 8 W. 

_do.... 

Dug. 

11 













Aquifers. 


Water 

level 





Depth 
to prin¬ 
cipal 
aquifer. 

Character 
of material. 

Depth to 
which well 
is cased. 

below 

surface 

(Sept. 

17, 

1917). 

Method of lift. 

Use of 
water. 

Date of 
completion 
of well. 

1 . 

Feet. 

185 


Feet. 

20 

Feet. 

70 

Windmill. 


a 1916 

2 . 

Cement... 

20 cement; 
20 pipe. 

20 

70 

Windmill and 4-horse- 


a 1888 

3. 


100 ± 

power gasoline en¬ 
gine. 

Small windmill. 

Stock. 

a 1912 

4. 




100 

10-foot windmill. 

.. .do. 

Julv 4,1915 

‘1915 

5. 



20 

170 ± 

.do. 

... do. 

6 . 



12-foot windmill. 

.. .do. 

a 1913 

7. 


Sand. 

16 

75 

10-foot windmill. 

.. .do. 

a 1914 

8. 


Gravel.... 

20 

140 

12-foot windmill. 

.. .do. 

a 1914 

9 . 


.. .do. 

20 

120 

14-foot windmill. 

.. .do. 

a 1914 

10. 



6-7 



a 1914 

11 . 




4 



a 1914 



, J A , 






a Approximate. 


Analyses and classification of water from E. H. Winters's wells in NE. J sec. 7, 

T. 1 N., R. 6 W. 


[Analyzed by C. H. Kidwell. Collected Dec. 5,1917. Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 



1 

2 


1 

2 

Silica (Si0 2 ). 

32 

37 

Total hardness as CaC0 3 a... 

49 

65 

Iron (Fe). 

.60 

.10 

Scale-forming constituents a 

77 

100 

Calcium (Ca). 

13 

19 

Foaming constituents a . 

540 

530 

Magnesium (Mg). 

4.0 

4.2 

Alkali coefficient (inches)... 

6.3 

6.4 

Sodium and potassium 






(Na+K)a. 

202 

196 

Classification; 



Carbonate radicle (C0 3 ). 

56 

.0 

Chemical character. 

Na-Cl. 

Na-Cl. 

Bicarbonate radicle (RC0 3 ) 

27 

169 

Quality for domestic use 

Good. 

Good. 

Sulphate radicle (SO^. 

70 

67 

Quality for boiler use... 

Very bad. 

V ery bad 

Chloride radicle (Cl). 

211 

200 

Quality for irrigation 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Nitrate radicle (N0 3 ). 

.18 

.85 

use. 



Total dissolved solids at 



Mineral content. 

High. 

High. 

| 180° C. 

627 

631 





a Computed. 

1. Drilled well, 185 feet deep, 6 inches in diameter. Temperature reported to be 81.5° F. 

2. Dug well, 95 feet deep, 8 feet in diameter. Temperature reported to be 78° F. 













































































































































RECENT CHANGES IN ROADS. 


229 


Wood Well. —At a mountain seep 8 miles north of Aguila. Owned by Herbert 
Wood. This well is 18 feet deep. It waters 50 cattle in winter and 5 in sum¬ 
mer. 

Woodchopper Tank. —A natural rock tank on the north flank of the Bighorn 
Mountains. Water is available here for most of the year. A short distance to 
the north is a very large natural tank used for watering sheep and said to be 
reliable at all seasons. 

Woolsey Tank. —An old and well-known watering place and camp ground on 
the old road across the Giia Bend Mountains 16 miles southwest of Arlington. 
(See PI. XVII, B.) The camp ground is about 100 yards off the main road, 
and the tank is in the wash a few yards from the camp ground. It is a natural 
rock tank partly filled with sand and reliable at all seasons. As it is unpro¬ 
tected from contamination the water in it is fit only for stock. However, in the 
same wash a few yards away, visible from the natural tank and also from the 
camp ground, is a prospect hole belonging to the Flower Pot Cattle Co. and 
known as the Perhaps mine. This hole is only 10 feet deep and contains drink¬ 
able water at all seasons. The owners were contemplating resuming develop¬ 
ment of the prospect in 1918. Possibly this development, if carried out, will 
destroy the value of this hole as a watering place. 


Analysis and classification of water from prospect hole knoivn as Perhaps mine. 


[Analyzed by M. D. Foster. Collected Jan. 10, 1918. Parts per million except as 

otherwise designated.] 


Silica (Si0 2 )- 70 

Iron (Fe)_ • 34 

Calcium (Ca)- 54 

Magnesium (Mg)- 26 

Sodium and potassium (Na + K) a — 66 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) - -0 

Bicarbonate radicle (HC0 3 )- 398 

Sulphate radicle (S0 4 )- 14 

Chloride radicle (Cl)- 29 

Nitrate radicle (NO a )- 2.5 

Total dissolved solids at 180° C-446 


Total hardness as CaC0 3 a - 242 

Scale-forming constituents®- 270 

Foaming constituents 0 _ 180 

Alkali coefficient (inches)- 13 

Classification : 

Chemical character-Ca—CO 3 . 

Quality for domestic use-Good. 

Quality for boiler use-Poor. 

Quality for irrigation use-Fair. 

Mineral content-Moderate. 


Yellow Medicine Tank. —A small rock tank of the plunge-pool type 75 yards 
south of the road and a short distance east of the old convict camp on the 
new road across Gila Bend Mountains, 28 miles west of Aldington. The 
water in it is good if clean but is usually dirty, because the tank is unpio- 

tected. The tank dries up in long dry spells. 

Yellow Medicine Well,—A shallow well on the east side of Yellow Medicine 
Wash in the Gila Bend Mountains, about a mile south of Yellow Medicine 
Tank. (See PI. XVI, B.) The depth to water was 88 feet September 9, 1917. 
The well is equipped with a loose-fitting trap door, a block and tackle, and 
an old powder can in which to draw up the water. At the time of visit the 
water was so contaminated with dead rats as to be undrinkable. 

Yuma. —A city at the junction of Gila and Colorado rivers, 197 miles from 
Phoenix. There are numerous wells in and near it, and much land in the 
vicinity is irrigated by the Yuma project. (See p. 164.) Water is available 


here at all seasons. 


RECENT CHANGES IN ROADS. 

In order to bring the information regarding the roads in the lower 
Gila region as nearly up to date as possible letters of inquiry were 
sent in April, 1923, to a number of persons and organizations 111 the 


<* Computed. 


























230 


LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA. 


region. The following data were furnished by H. B. De Long, of 
the Automobile Club of Arizona; W. L. Ellison, county engineer of 
Yuma County; C. M. Hindman, of Wellton; and the Arizona High¬ 
way Department: 

The principal change in routes of travel since the field work for this report 
was done appears to be in the route from Phoenix to Yuma. The present route 
is from Phoenix to Arlington, thence south to Gillespie dam, where Gila River 
is crossed on the apron of the dam, thence to Gila Bend, and west to Yuma. 
This road is now a State highway, and plans have been made to give it a gravel 
surface. The distance from Phoenix to Yuma by this route is about 198 miles. 
The road through the Gila Bend Mountains and Agua Caliente, which in 1918 
was the main route to Yuma, is now little used and not recommended. The 
washed-out concrete bridge at Antelope Hill on this road has been temporarily 
repaired with pile trestles. Logs of the part of the road from Phoenix to a 
point just beyond Arlington will be found on pages 126-127, 131-132, _and a de¬ 
scription on pages 152-155. The route has probably not been greatly changed, 
so that many of the distances and directions given are still correct, but there are 
a number of changes in the character of the road, and the country it passes 
through is more densely populated than in 1918. The road from Phoenix to 
Buckeye is now reported to be paved, and there is now a bridge all the way 
across Agua Fria River, although part of it is a temporary structure. From 
Buckeye to Arlington the road is in fairly good condition, but from Arlington 
south to the Gillespie dam it is rough. The Gillespie dam is at the site of Enter¬ 
prise dam, shown on Plate V. From Gillespie dam to Gila Bend the road is now 
in good condition. The character of the country along this stretch can be 
learned from the description of the road from Buckeye to Gila Bend on page 
155. From Gila Bend west along the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad there 
is a good highway for about 8 miles. From this point nearly to Coif red the road 
contains chuck holes and is sandy in places, and detours are necessary on 
account of construction work. From Colfred to Yuma there is a gravel¬ 
surfaced road, in good condition. From Gila Bend to a point near Blaisdell 
the route is essentially the same as that in use in 1918. Logs and a description 
of the part of the road from Wellton west are given on pages 128-130, 163-164, 
and logs of the part between Gila Bend and Wellton have been published in 
Water-Supply Paper 490-D. 27 From a point near Blaisdell to Yuma the route 
has been changed. It now leads along the north side of the railroad from Blais¬ 
dell to a point just east of Araby, about 2 miles, then south half a mile, then 
west 64 miles on a section-line road, then north to Yuma. There is now a 
railroad well between Pembroke and Mohawk and a water tank at Colfred, in 
addition to the water supplies mentioned by Bryan; 28 also several wells put 
down for irrigation between Mohawk and Yuma. 

The route from Phoenix to Wickenburg is still essentially that given in the 
logs on pages 139-142, except that the road from Marinette to Phoenix is now 
paved. 

The road from the east boundary of Yuma County through Wenden, Salome, 
and Bouse to Parker is reported to have been improved in part and the 
remainder is now under construction. When finished it is to be a good graded 
road, with gravel surface where necessary. 

27 Bryan, Kirk, Routes to desert watering places in the Papago country, Ariz. : U. S. 
Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 490-D, pp. 339-340, 385-386, 1922. 

28 Idem, pp. 339-340. 




INDEX. 


Acknowledgments for aid. 4 ,230 

Agriculture in the region. 13-15 

Agua Caliente, hot springs at, description of. 197-198 

log of road through. 127,131,132 

and Palomas, two roads between. 160 

A-gua Fria River, bridge over. 126,153-154,230 

bridge over, view from. 168 

flow of. 38,37 

Aguila, log of road through. 140,141 

railroad well at, description of. 198-199 

Aguila Land & Cattle Co.’s wells, description 

of. 199 

Alamo Spring, description of. 199 

routes to. 151-152 

Alhambra, water at. 199 

Alluviation, first period of. 89-90 

second period of. 92-93 

Analyses of waters. 198-229 

Animals of the region. 16-17 

exclusion of, from cisterns. 50 

Antelope Bridge, description of. 162-163 

repair of. 230 

and Norton, road between. 162-163 

and Well ton, road between. 163 

Antelope irrigation project, extent and life 

of. 98-99 

Antelope Valley canal, description of. 105-106 

Apiary, location of. 129,159 

Apiary Well, description of. 199 

Araby irrigation project, extent and life of... 98,99 

Arid region of the United States, map of. xn 

Arlington, description of. 155 

log of road through. 127,129 

water at store in. 200 

wells in and near. 199-201 

Arlington irrigation canal, description of. 98, 

99,102-103 

Arlington Mesa, depression near. 70 

Arlington Valley, description, of.69-70 

logs of wells in. 84-85 

Artesa Pond, dam at. 52-53 

plate showing. 50 

Artesian wells, possibility of. 33 

Authorization of the survey. xi 

Automobiles, advice to travelers in..'.. 119-122 

Avondale, well at, description of. 201 

wells near, logs of. 85-88 

Aztec, logs of wells at. 78-79, 81-82 

Aztec irrigation canal, extent and life of. 98 

B. 

Bancroft, Howland, cited.. 175-176,179,182-183,193 
Baragan’s Well, description of. 201-202 


Page. 

Basal complex, features of.20-21 

Basalt, age and distribution of. 22-23,24,27 

eruptions of. 93 

overlying limestone, plate showing. 184 

Beardsley, water at. 202 

Bighorn Mountains, description of. 171 

hills at south end of, plate showing. 168 

Bighorn Well, description of. 202 

Black Butte, location of. 180 

scarp on north side of, plate showing ... 184 

Blake, W. P., analysis by. 198 

cited. 167-168 

Bouse, description of. 173 

log of road through. 134,136 

Quartzsite to, log of road.. 144 

wells at, descriptions of. 202-203 

and Parker, road between. 173-175 

and Quartzsite, road between. 183-184 

and Swansea, road between. 180 

and Vicksburg, road between. 172-173 

to Quartzsite, log of road. 143-144 

to Swansea, description of road. 142 

Bouse Hills, features of. 173 

Bradford Well, description of. 203 

Browne, J. R., cited. 97 

Brown’s Well, description of. 203 

Bryan, Kirk, Types of surface water supplies. 35-61 

Buckeye, description of. 154 

log of road through. 126,132 

wells in and near, descriptions of. 203-204 

and Coldwater, road between. 154-155 

to Gila Bend* description of road. 155 

Buckeye irrigation canal, description of. 98» 

99,101-102,154 

Buckeye Hills, features of. 154-155 

Buckeye Valley, description of. 67-68 

wells in. 85 

Buckskin Mountains, description of. 178-180 

Burger Well, description of. 204 

Burned Place Well, description of. 204-205 

Bush's Ferry, at Parker, plate showing. 169 

Butler Valley, features of. 177-178 

Butler Well, description of. 205 

log of road passing. 136,137 

and Osborne Well, road between. 178 

and Wenden, road between. 176-178 

C. 

Cactus Plain, features of. 173-174 

road crossing. 180 

Caliche, origin and occurrence of. 25,85 

Campbell Sheep Co.’s Well, description of... 205 

Cashion, log of road through. 126,132 

supplies obtainable at. 153,205 


231 

































































































232 


INDEX 


Page. 

Castle Dome, features of. 188 

log of road through. 147,149 

and Dome, road between. 189-190 

Castle Dome mine, water at. 205 

Castle Dome Mountains, description of_187-189 

ore deposits in. 189 

road through. 161 

Catalina Gold Mining Co., property of. 183 

Cement Well, description of. 205 

Cemetery Hills, features of... 192 

Cemitosa Tanks, description of. 205 

Centennial Wash, description of.39-41 

Chain Tanks, descriptions of. 205 

Changes in roads. 229-230 

Charco, head of, near La Quituni, plate show¬ 
ing . 50 

Charcos, occurrence of. 42 

Chocolate Mountains, features of. 189 

Cibola, road to. 182,187 

water at. 206 

Cistern for a water catch, construction of.48-50 

Citrus irrigation canal, extent and life of.... 100 

Clanton Hills, description of. 192 

gap between Gila Bend Mountains and, 

plate showing. 185 

Clanton’s Well/description of. 191,206 

Clay, occurrence and origin of.90-92 

Climate of the region. 4-7 

Coldwater, log of road through. 126,132 

supplies obtainable at. 154 

view from bridge at, plate showing. 168 

well at, description of. 206 

and Buckeye, road between. 154-155 

and Phoenix, road between. 153-154 

Colfred, road passing. 230 

water tank at. 230 

Colorado River, plates showing. 169 

Colorado River Indian Reservation, de¬ 
scription of. 174-175 

drive-point tests in. 117 

duty of water in. 114 

field work in. 109-111 

flood water available in. 113 

ground water available in. 113 

logs of wells in. 115-117 

nature of the bottom lands in. 108-109 

pumping for irrigation in. 114 

quality of water in. 110-111,117 

test wells in. 112 

water-bearing deposits in. Ill 

water for mesa land in. 112-113 

Conglomerate, pockets in, plate showing. 168 

Corbett canal, description of. 102 

Cotton, field of, plate showing. 168 

Courthouse Rock, description of. 171 

plate showing. 168 

Courthouse Well, description of. 206 

Coyote Well. See Vinegar on Well. 

Crabb Well, description of. 206 

Cullen Wash, description of. 39 

Cullins Well, description of. 206 

Cunningham Pass, well in, description of.... 206 

D. 

Dams, diversion, construction of.57-58 

earth, construction and protection of_55-57 


Page. 

Deadman Tank, location of. 192,206 

Deep Well, description of. 207 

Deep Wells, route through. 123 

Dendora irrigation canal, extent and life of.. 100 

Descriptions of watering places. 197-229 

Desert Well, description of. 181,207 

plate showing. 184 

Dixie mine, well at, description of. 207 

Dome, description of. 163 

log of road through. 129,130 

Quartzsite to, by main road, log of road. 146-147 
by old road across La Posa Plain, log 

of road. 147-148 

water at. 207 

and Castle Dome, road between. 189-190 

and Quartzsite, road between*. 186-190 

and Wellton, road between. 163 

and Yuma, road between. 163-164 

to Quartzsite by main road, log of road. 148-149 
by old road across La Posa Plain, log 

of road. 150 

Dome Rock Mountains, features of. 185 

Dos Palmas Well, description of. 207 

Drinking water, care in using.36-37 

E. 

Eagle Eye Peak, origin of name. 175 

Eagletail Mountains, description of-170-171,192 

plate showing. 168 

East Riverside irrigation canal, extent and 

life of. 98,100-101 

Ehrenberg, settlement of. 185 

Ehrenberg Ferry, plate showing. 184 

Quartzsite to, log of road. 144-145 

routes through. 123-124 

water at and near. 207 

and Quartzsite, road between. 184-185 

to Parker, description of road. 145 

to Quartzsite, log of road. 145 

Emory, W. H., cited. 97 

Gila River described by.65-66 

Engle Well, description of. 207 

Enterprise irrigation canal, construction and 

regrading of. 70 

description of. 98,99,103-104 

Enterprise ranch, logs of wells at. 73 

valley of Gila River near.72-73 

Erosion, first period of. 89 

second period of. 92 

third period of. 93 

Explorations of the region. 7-8 

F. 

Falls, due to changes in stream grade.45-46 

due to different hardness of rocks. 45 

due to renewed uplift. 46 

Farra’s ranch, well at. 207 

Faults, occurrence of.27-28 

Field work, record of. xn 

Figueroa, Abel, wells of. 161 

Flower Pot Cattle Co., Perhaps mine of. 158 

Fossils, occurrence of. 75 

Foster, M. D., analyses by. 198-199, 

201-202,203,214,226,229 

Fourth of July Tank, description of. 207 

Fourth of July Wash, location of. 156 
















































































































INDEX 


233 


Page. 

Franc!sen & Knudsen'sjWell, description of.. 208 


Freighter Well, description^. 208 

and Harquahala, road between. 191-193 

and Palomas, road between. 190-191 

G. 

Galleta Well, description of. 208 

Garc 6 s, Father Francisco, explorations by... 9 

Geology of the region. 19-33 

Gidley, J. W., fossils determined by. 75 

Gila Bend, Buckeye to, description of road.. 155 

logs of wells at. 79-80,82-84 

water at, analyses of. 209 

Gila Bend canal. See East Riverside irriga¬ 
tion canal. 

Gila Bend Mountains, features of. 157-158,192 

gap between Clanton Hills and, plate 

showing. 185 

new road across. 156-157 

old road across. 157-159 

plain in, plate showing. 168 

Gila City, site of. 163 

Gila River, bend in, south of Gila Bend 

Mountains. 73 

cross sections of, diagrammatic, plate 

showing. 68 

cutting of channel of. 94 

deposition of flood plain of..... 93-94 

description of. 62-63,76 

discharge of, at Gila City. 107 

at Sentinel. 106 

at Yuma. 107 

early condition of. 64-67,94 

ferry crossing. 189 

flow of. 36 

old course of.71-72 

present conditions on.94-95 

Quaternary history of. 89-95 

Tertiary history of. 88-89 

tributaries of.63-64 

valley of, below T Salt River.67-76 

Gila Water and Land Co., irrigation by. 154 

Gillespie dam, description of. 70-71,104-105 

plate showing. 104 

route crossing Gila River on. 230 

Glendale, Agua Fria River near. 37 

log of road through. 139,142 

water at. 209 

Gonzales Wells, description of. 184,209 

plate showing. 184 

Goodmans Tank, description of. 209 

Governor of Arizona, reports cited.98,99 

Granite Wash Hills, features of. 172 

Ground water, occurrence of, in rock. 33 

occurrence of, in valley fill.33-34 

H. 

Hall Well, description of. 209 

Harcuvar Mountains, description of. 177 

Harquahala, logs of road through. 150-151 

water at. 209 

and Freighter Well, road between.191-193 

and Salome, road between. 193-194 

Harquahala mine, description of. 193 

Harquahala Mountains, description of. 175-176 

Harquahala Plain, description of. 170 


Page. 

Harris, A. L., Irrigation with ground water 
in Colorado River Indian Reser¬ 


vation. 108-117 

Harrisburg Valley, drainage from.39-40 

road through_‘.. 169 

Hassayampa Plain, description of. 166-167 

road across, plate showing. 105 

Hassayampa River, flow of. 36,37-38,155 

irrigation on. ; . 166-167 

and Palo Verde mine, road between... 165-166 

Hayes Cattle Co.’s Well, description of. 209-210 

Hinton, R. J., cited. 97 

History of the region. 7-12 

geologic, outline of. 28-33 

Hoist Well, description of. 210 

Hoodoo Wells, description of. 210 

Horse Tanks, description of. 210 

plate showing. 185 

Hot Springs Junction, log of road through ... 140, 

141-142 

water at. 210 

Humming Bird Spring, description of. 210 

Huntman Well, description of. 210 

Huttman Well, description of. 210 

I. 

Imperial Well, description of. 210 

Indians, irrigation by. 97 

Irrigation, history of, w r est of Gila River Res¬ 
ervation. 95-108 

river water available for. 106-108 

status of.xiv, 13-15 

storage of water for.51-52 

J. 

James Bent canal, description of. 103 

Jansen Well, description of. 211 

Jones, E. L., jr., cited. 183,187 

Jordan, J. W., alfalfa ranch of. 159 

Joshlin ditch, description of. 103 

K. 

Keating, F. E., analyses by. 203, 

212-213,214,219,221,227 

Kid well, C. H., analyses by. 199,200,202,205, 

208,209,223,224,225,228 

King of Arizona mine, features of. 161 

Kino, Father Eusebio, Gila River mentioned 

by. 64-65 

missionary and economic work of. 8 

L. 

La Belle Well, description of. 211 

La Paz, history of. 185 

water at and near. 185,211 

La Posa Plain, depth to water on. 182 

roads crossing. 186-187 

Ladder Tanks, description of. 211 

Laguna Range, rocks of. 190 

Lake beds, occurrence of, in the San Carlos 

Indian Reservation.91-92 

Lakes, occurrence of. 41-42 

Lapham, Charles W., Well, description of... 211 

Lapham, Frank C., wells, description of. 211 

Lava Springs Well, description of. 211 

Lavas, Tertiary, nature and distribution of.. 21-23 

Liberty, description of. 154 

log of road through. 126,132 

wells at. 212 










































































































234 


INDEX. 


Page. 

Little Harquahala Mountains, description of. 171 


Little Horn Mountains, features of. 192 

Location of the region.xn, 1 

Lone Mountain, location of. 170 

Lone Mountain Well, description of.212-213 

Los Angeles, Calif., main routes to. 123,124-125 

Loudermilk Well. See State Well. 

Lower Gila Bend irrigation canal, extent and 

life of. 98,100 

M. 

McClellan Well, description of. 213 

McDaniel’s Well, description of. 213 

McIntyre Well, description of. 213 

McPherson Tanks, description of. 213 

McVay, railroad well at. 214 

Malapai, occurrence of. 80 

Map, of arid region of the United States. xn 


of central part of lower Gila region.. In pocket, 
of eastern part of lower Gila region.. In pocket, 
of western part of lower Gila region.. In pocket 
reconnaissance geologic, of the lower Gila 


region. 20 

Maps, compilation of. 3-4 

Maps and reports prepared. xn-xni 

Maricopa County, canals in. 98 

Meinzer, O. E., preface by. xi-xiv 

Mesa, log of well at. 88 

Mesozoic time, events of.28-30 

Mesquite trees, growth of, along stream 

courses.40,41 

Mesquite Well, description of. 194,213-214 

Meyers & Wetzel Well, description of. 214 

Middle Well, condition of. 161 

Mines, water supplies for. 50-51 

Mining in the region.,. 12-13 

description of. 211-215 

Midway, railroad tank at. 178,180,215 

Millett, —, on changes of grade in Gila River. 67 

Mohawk, log of well at. 78,81 

Mohawk irrigat ion project, extent and life of. 99 
Montgomery, John, Gila River described by. 66-67 

Morris ranch, wells at. 215 

Muggins Mountains, rocks of . 190 

Muggins Tank, description of. 215 

N. 

» 

New Water Pass, road to. 182 

water in. 215 

New Well, description of. 215 

North Star Mine, features of. 161-162 

Norton, description of. 162 

well at. 215 

and Antelope Bridge, road between... 162-163 

and Palomas, road between.160-161 

Nottbusch Valley, description of.191-192 

O. 

Oatman’s Flat station, history of. 159 

Olberg, C. R., History of irrigation along Gila 
River west of Gila River Reserva¬ 
tion. 95-108 

Old Mexican Mine Tanks, description of. 216 

Old Well, description of. 216 


Page. 

Onemile Well, description of. 216 

Osborne Well, description of. 178,216 

and Butler Well, road between. 178 

and Parker, road between. 180 

P. 

Paleozoic time, events of. 28-30 

Palo Verde, description of. 155 

farming near. 167 

log of road through. 126,132,133,139 

wells at and near. 216-217 

Palo verde, growth of, along stream courses. 41 

Palo Verde Hills, description of. 168 

Palo Verde mine, water in. 217 

and Hassayampa River, road between. 165-166 

and Salome, road between. 169-170 

Palomas, description of. 160 

log of road through. 128,130 

Salome to, by way of Harquahala, log of 

road. 150-151 

wells in and near. 216 

and Agua Caliente, two roads between.. 160 

and Freighter Well, road between. 190-191 

and Norton, road between. 160-161 

and Salome, road between. 190-194 

to Salome by way of Harquahala, log of 

road. 151 

Palomas irrigation canal, extent and life of.. 98,99 

Palomas Mountains, tanks in. 216 

Papago canal, description of. 105 

Parker, description of. 174 

Ehrenberg to, description of road. 145 

ferry at. 174 

main routes through. 123-124 

rainfall at. 5,6,7 

river and well water at. 217-218 

Salome to, log of road. 134-135,230 

Wenden to, by way of Butler Well, log of 

road. 135-136 

and Bouse, road between. 173-175 

and Osborne Well, road between. 180 

and Phoenix, roads between. 165-180 

to Salome, log of road.•_ 136-137 

to Wenden, log of road. 137-138 

Parker cut-off, beginning of. 155 

use of name.. 165 

Pembroke, logs of wells at and near.78,81 

Peoria, log of road through. 139,142 

water at. 219 

Peorial canal. See East Riverside irrigation 
canal. 

Perhaps mine, water in. 229 

Peroxide Well, description of. 219 

Peters Well, description of.... 219 

Phoenix, historical sketch of. 152 

main routes from. 123-125 

rainfall at.5,6,7 

Salome to, by way of Palo Verde and 

Buckeye, log of road. 138-139 

wells at. 219 

Wiekenburg to, log of road. 141-142 

Yuma to, by main road, log of road_ 130-132 

by old road, log of road. 132-133 

and Coldwater, road between. 153-154 

and Parker, roads between. 165-180 

to Coldwater, description of route. 153-154 




































































































INDEX 


235 


Page. 

Phoenix, to Salome by way of Buckeye and 


Palo Verde, log of road.133-134 

to Wickenburg, log of road. 139-140,230 

to Yuma by main road, log of road.126-129 

by old road, log of road. 129-130 

by State highway. 230 

Physiographic history of Gila River.8S-95 

Pictographs, locality of. 155 

Plomosa mine, road to. 181 

Plomosa Mountains, description of. 184 

passthrough. 183,184 

Plunge pools, production of.44-45 

Point of Rocks, attempts at irrigation near.. 160 

bedrock and valley fill near.74-75 

Ponds, occurrence of.41-42 

Popper Well, description of. 220 

Potholes, production of. 44 

Pre-Cambrian time, events of. 28 

Precipitation. See Rainfall. 

Q. 

Quail Springs, description of. 220 

Quality of ground water. 34 

Quartzsite, Bouse to, log of road. 143-144 

Dome to, by main road, log of road_ 14S-149 

by old road across La Posa Plain, log 

of road. 150 

Ehrenberg to, log of road. 145 

history and description of. 180,182 

old stage line through. 180 

Vicksburg to, log of road. 142-143 

wells at. 220 

and Bouse, road between. 183-184 

and Dome, road between. 186-190 

and Ehrenberg, road between. 184-185 

and Vicksburg, road between. 180-182 

to Bouse, log of road.1_ 144 

to Dome by main road, log of road. 146-147 

by old road across La Posa Plain, log 

of road. 147-148 

to Ehrenberg, log of road. 144-145 

to Vicksburg, log of road. 143 

Quaternary sedimentary formations, nature 

of.24-27 

Quaternary time, events of.31-33 

R. 

Rain water, collection of, from roofs. 47 

collection of, from roofs, plate showing... 50 

on rock surfaces. 48-50 

Rainfall of the region. 5-7 

Ranegras Plains, adobe flats of. 181 

Red Tanks Well, description of. 220 

Redondo irrigation project, extent and life of. 98-99 

Red water Well, description of. 220 

Reed, Cashin Land & Sheep Co.’s wells, de¬ 
scription of.. 220 

Renada Ranch Co., operations of. 177-178 

wells of. 177-178,205,220 

Represo, meaning of. 53 

plates showing. 51 

Reservoirs, at one side of a stream channel, 

construction of. 55-59 

at one side of a stream channel, sites for.. 53-55 

debris-filled, advantages of. 59 

construction of.59-61 


Page. 

Reservoirs, in the mountains and foothills, 

sites and materials for.52-53 

on stream channels, requirements for.... 53 

purposes served by. 50-52 

Reynolds Well, description of. 220 

Riffle hollows, production of. 44 

River water, difficulties in using. 114 

Road logs, plan of. 125 

Road ruts, diversion of flow in. 55 

Roads, difficulties in travel on. 119-122 

kinds and characteristics of. 118-119 

typical, plates showing. 105 

scope of logs and descriptions of. 2 

Rock tanks, away from stream channels, 

occurrence of. 42 

in stream channels, production and occur¬ 
rence of. 43-46 

Rogers Well, description of. 220 

Roof with gutters and tank for catching rain 

water, plate showing. 50 

Routes, main, length and termini of. 123-125 

Rush Well. See Huntman Well. 

S. 


Saddle Mountain, description of. 168 

plate showing. 168 

Salome, features of. 169-170 

Palomas to, by way of Harquahala, log 

of road. 151 

Parker to, log of road. 136-137 

Phoenix to, by way of Buckeye and Palo 

Verde, log of road. 133-134 

wells at and near. 220-221 

Wickenburg to, log of road. 140-141 

and Harquahala, road between. 193-194 

and Palo Verde mine, road between... 169-170 

and Palomas, road between. 190-194 

and Vicksburg, road between. 171-172 

to Palomas by way of Harquahala, log of 

road. 150-151 

to Parker, log of road. 134-135,230 

to Phoenix by way of Palo Verde and 

Buckeye, log of road. 138-139 

to Wickenburg, log of road. 141,230 

Salt River, description of. 64 

Salt River irrigation works, description of.. 152-153 

San Carlos River, description of. 63 

San Diego, Calif., main routes to. 123 

San Francisco River, description of. 63 

San Pedro River, description of. 63-64 

Sand storm, description of. 6 

Sand Tank south of Quartzsite, description 

of. 221 

Sand tanks, description of. 47 

Santa Cruz River, description of. 64 

flow of. 36 

Santo Domingo Tank, description of. 221 

Scope of the report. 1-2 

Scour depressions, production of. 44 

Sedelmair, Father Jacobo, explorations by.. 8 

Sentinel, logs of wells at. 79,82 

Sentinel canal. See South Gila irrigation 
project. 

S. H. Mountains, description of. 187 

Sierra Estrella, features of. 154 







































































































236 


( 


INDEX 


Page. 

South Gila irrigation project, extent and life 


of.....98,100 

Southern Pacific Co., logs of wells of, in lower 

Gila region. 77-84 

Southwest Cotton Co., operations of. 154 

wells of. 85-88,221-222 

Spillways, protection of, with a brush water 

drop. 58-59 

Springs, artificial, construction of reservoirs 

for. 59-61 

Star Well, description of. 222 

State Well, description of. 222 

Stock, raising of. 15 

water supplies for. 51 

Stokes, Fred, Well, description of. 222 

Stokes, T. B., Well, description of. 222 

Streams, ephemeral. 38 

intermittent and interrupted.35-38 

Surprise Well, description of. 222-223 

Swansea, Bouse to, description of road. 142,180 

water at. 223 

T. 


Tanks. See Reservoirs, Rock tanks, and 


Sand tanks. 

Tenmile Well, description of. 223 

Terrace north of Gila River, description 

of. 68,69-70 

Terraces near Yuma, description of. 75 

Tertiary lavas, nature and distribution of_21-23 

Tertiary sedimentary formations, nature and 

distribution of. 23-24 

Tertiary time, events of.30-31 

Thumb Butte mine, water in. 223 

Thumb Butte Tank, description of. 223 

Tinajas. See Rock tanks. 

Tinajas Altas, plate showing. 50 

upland valley at, plate showing. 50 

Tolladay’s Well, description of. 223-224 

Wenden to, log of road. 138 

to Wenden, log of road. 134 

Topography of the region. 17-19 

Torrance Well, description of. 224 

Travel in the region. 118-122 

Trigo Mountains, rocks of.:... 190 

Tub Spring, description of. 224 

Tule Tank, description of. 224 

Twentymile Well, description of. 224 

U. 

U. S. Reclamation Service report, cited_153,164 

Uster Well, description of. 224 

V. 

Van Hagen Well, description of. 224-225 

Vegetation of the region. 15-16 

plate shoving. 16 

Vicksburg, description of. 172 

log of road through. 134,137 

Quartzsite to, log of road. 143 

railroad cistern at. 225 

and Bouse, road between. 172-173 

and Quartzsite, road between. 180-182 

and Salome, road between. 171-172 

to Quartzsite, log of road. 142-143 


Page. 

Vinegaron Well, description of. 225 

Volcanic Well, description of. 225 

Vulture mine, feature of. 168 

water at. 225 

Vulture Mountains, description of. 167-168 

Vulture Well, description of. 225-226 

W. 

Wagoner, Hassayampa River near. 38 

Walnut Grove, Hassayampa River near. 37 

Washes, difficulties in crossing. 118,120,121 

Water catch near Fortuna mine, plate show¬ 
ing. 50 

Water catches, construction of. 48-50 

Watering places, importance of. 35 

scope of descriptions.3,194 

Waters, analyses of. 198-229 

bases for rating quality of. 194-197 

Wave fence, building of. 57 

Webb mine, location of. 1£7 

Webb Well, description of. 157,226 

Well logs, interpretation of. 76-77 

Wells, deep, along Gila and Salt rivers, 

graphic logs of. 68 

Wellton, description of. 163 

log of road through. 128,130 

wells at. 226 

logs of. 78,80-81 

and Antelope Bridge, road between. 163 

and Dome, road between. 163 

Wenden, description of. 176 

log of road through. 140,141 

Palo Verde mine to, description of road. 169 

Parker to, log of road.*. 137-138 

possibility of artesian water near. 176 

wells at. 226-227 

Wickenburg to, log of road. 140 

and Butler Well, road between. 176-178 

to Parker by way of Butler Well, log of 

road. 135-136 

to Tolladays Well, log of road. 138 

White Tank Mountains, features of. 154 

White Tanks, Maricopa County, description 

of. 227 

Yuma County, description of.... 227 

Wickenburg, Phoenix to, log of road. 139-140 

route through. 123,124 

Salome to, log of road. 141 

water at. 227 

to Phoenix, log of road. 141-142 

to Wenden and Salome, log of road. 140-141,230 

Willow Spring, description of... 227 

Willow Tanks, description of. 227 

Wilson Well, description of. 227 

Winters, E. H., wells at ranch house of, log 

of road passing. 133,139,166 

wells on cattle range of. 166,227-228 

Wood Well, description of. 229 

Woodchopper Tank, description of. 229 

Woolsey Peak, plate showing. 168 

Woolsey Tank, description of. 158,229 

geology of rocks around. 158 

log of road near. 129,133 

plate showing. 168 











































































































INDEX 


237 


Y. 

Paga. 

Yellow Medicine'Tank, description of. 229 

Yellow Medicine Well, description of. 229 

plate showing. 168 

Yuma, description of. 164 

Gila River near. 75 

logs of railroad wells at. 77-78,80 

main routes to. 123-125 


Phoenix to/jby^mainji'oad, log of road- 126-129 


Pa ga 

Yuma, Phoenix to, by old road, log of road. 129-130 

by State highway. 230 

rainfall at. 5,6,7 

water at. 22e 

and Dome, road between.163-164 

to Phoenix by main road, log of road.. 130-132 

by old road, log of road. 132-133 

Yuma County, canals in. 98 


O 


































U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE II 





FERRY, 


; Peun&wt 


" " : •; ^ 
K'iboi rrftji T &ll 


y^OGOER 

*PR&3f>£Cr 




road ^ 


\Yi cksbti 


ifirb&'h 


Boas' 




OofuJ/n/tru^ 

7 


PAZ MTN 


^icVisbur 


OxjTixah'R mo* 


"royo 


' ^REW YORK PLQMOSA Mi RE 

Koescrt queer mire 


Farrar Peak 

2900 


Dripping} 
Spri/ix/ <( 


Kuhn 

Weil 


C/RRA BAR 

RHKE 


New Water 
Pass 


.onesome 
■ Peak 


LINE 


Muhu*'*- 
Tun Jr 4 


Weaver Pass 


Cibola. 

f WATER 


HP? 


Old road to Deep Well,Middle Well, 
"and Palomas 


BLAISE 


i <A'r-s(jn-T< utK 
’pee&nn.U' loactfforv) 

a$tle Dome 

(BUtUJpi h/drtHon i 


wxEtcte 

UinAr.s^ 




t rrti) Tun/* 


•Mqivru*. 

.ser\’oi.r 


\ ,**la%VT9a 

Im/, 52 ^ 


I »< Ullr 


ihlrlkijiii’Ts 
Weil 


(' Al.l I 1 ' * IHN1 A__ 

IA CAIdVoRNlA 


.Yuma 


ARTELOREi 

BRIDGE 


liwlelT 


Antj&fcSpe Hill 


(jiiu/nu // 


Vuuiii 


Fossil Poi 


(vhIoiI** 


L i<5m v t*f 


11 isJL —i— 


IhvnoOJs 
‘ Weil 


Wall ton 


Adcmilel 


Baker Peaks 


RELIEF 

Compiled from plane-table sheets by 
Clyde P. Ross, U. S. Geological Survey 
topographic maps, irrigation survey maps, 
township plats of the General Land 
Office, and other sources 
Relief shading by John H Renshawe 


MAP OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 


SHOWING DESERT WATERING PLACES 

Scale 2 5o,ooo 


15 Miles 

^3 


Watering-place survey by Clyde P. Ross 
Area south of Gila River by Kirk Bryan 
Surveyed in 1917 




DcUzurv uf mecui sect level 
1922 


EXPLANATION 



Perennial stream 



Intermittent stream 



Wash 

(Water course that 
is usually dry) 


O 


Nonflowing well 


* 


Abandoned well 
or dry hole 


•n 


Spring 



Natural reservoir 
or tank 


□ 


Cistern or other 
artificial reservoir 


© 


Pumping plant 


Irrigation canal, 
ditch, or pipe line 


Road 


Secondary road 


T 


Signpost erected by 
U. S. Geological Survey 


* 


Mine 




















































































































































































WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE III 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



114*00' 


113*30' 


113*00 


ftnmsoa 


Planet Peak 




| 

) 


Midway 


[Jiutler Well 


YAVAPAL CO 
MARICOPA CO 


A puli a L a/icl C Co I l l'll 


®{AfrprfxrijH o/c location) 


M&npleWt'll 

Pbrepioi^b. 


Ofxihanif Well 


Reed,OaurhirvZ. <C'C Co Well 
glApp/vsaioicrte 
location^ 


Jjaphosn, Hell 


ttpbell SheepCo 
'fiyj'rksuxi Well 


/ lfurttrnan 

& n ' cU ^ 


u Ho. T, a/id. V C*> / / ?■//-.1 

fAppno&tTfXjate 

A#uil;i _dl 


Cunningham P 

j 4Yoj# */v ^*te 


On&inile Well 

BOUSE 

hh L-ys 


~l<j< 11 


A. i K 

Harcuvar 

Peak 


(Jeter 
J Veil 


Lapluz/n Well 


CulUne Wei 


■ :j; 


■X^jL Afo/n^yrr fPU 

^O' & {ApprOit’uhl/te Uo/yi 


kf^V.v '. > ,2.-1. J* -V . .i 

i 

AH-</ Stofoes Hi// 

■ \© (AppTYHuitruxte tooatiort) 


Lorjkhait. 


HaVt^uahala Mtn 


WenAaoj 


C.rxUrb JJ1// 


’Peters 

Veil. 


y/oUetf 




Sodom; 


j liof/ers Wei! 

'If ‘l’ r ’^iisrwI, m\, ’ 


eKahatchipi Pass 
Socorro F 

SOCORRO U/NC 


5awrowap 


^4 


X’ W"(„ ,‘t 

r< 


‘ihUax/ti. i .’v 




Pyramid 

Peak 


Twntyndle 

Well 


oJri Hell** I1/ ’// 


Ftrwi/vnl JfiiM, 


l,one Mcnjntai/i 
o'. JJW/ 


finr fix'd Pieule 

1f®2 


Ccfl'nle Well 


l‘,,urthouse~', n 

If J'// ‘'App/'tx, ■ //e'rixi 


ff&li 


Welt 


Courthouse I 
^ 7 Rock H; 

^ \ Af GF^ j%/ .y'\■ , 




Ea^tc+ail Peak 


Dectelnuut 71/stA' 




IJNK 




Tunic 


. ■Js/sfto Spring/ 


Vlflvctrvlo Welly 




Old Well 


\ oc8tjon_. 3^ -S^ntoo's We// 


Fo u rth-of'-J u I y «JButte 


, . (Sj Chut tori# Well 

9 ^Freighter Weft 


‘ounta. 




r< line W* 

ow 


d i c i n 


Veep Well 
(Apprxxvinui/e 
loeotiorcg 


B utti 


/Montezuma 
f Head****' « 


Turtfeback Mtn 


Middle Well 


Cjan'ocunp 


V AlKirulntiexlj 
l*yjnpjjip JCJ/i/tl 


Nall Well. 




o! Flat 


Point of' 


We) 


■A INTE *• Rot! 
MOUNTAINS. 


Rocks 


aJb&&£ 


0\j5/v»mlv Tf %IZ 


Int • STANDARD L’ARALI‘l- 


7Jn/vftoA*^ W<r/A v 
A/iprxt.ru/ia,tF locational' 


'J^aJornas 


\tbuxolis 

Dk-/ 




•eutiiL«il 


Signal Butte 


Yurrte. 


Stajjts'bc 


Mdha'vk 


'^p'-uilirokr 
IX,, Fyu’piiib'rtJ ; 


liln.'tio 7t ^//\o 
IJ/inpno'ti t/\ 


113*30 


114*00 R 17 w 


113*00 


(NSflAVCOANO PfUNTEO UYTMt ij 


Compiled from plane-table sheets by 
Clyde P. Ross, U. S. Geological Survey 
topographic maps, irrigation survey maps, 
township plats of the General Land 
Office, and other sources 
Relief shading by John H Renshawe 


RELIEF MAP OF THE CENTRAL PART OF THE LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 

SHOWING DESERT WATERING PLACES 

Scale 250000 

S0 5 _to_X6 Miles 


Watering-place survey by Clyde P. Ross 
Area south of Gila River by Kirk Bryan 
Surveyed in 1917 


EXPLANATION 


Intermittent stream 



Wash 

(Water course that 
is usually dry) 


O 

Nonflowing well 


+ 


Abandoned well 
or dry hole 


A 


Spring 


a 


Natural reservoir 
or tank 


□ 


Cistern or other 
artificial reservoir 


© 


Pumping plant 



Road 



Secondary road 


T 


Signpost erected by 
U. S. Geological Survey 


* 

Mine 


DuOirn is mean sect level 
1922 





































































































































































U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 498 PLATE IV 



U3°OOR.7 W 


m,7^TT. 


0X1 rrxa* 






Cholla 
> Mtn h 


tt yut. 


DE1TO 
- MINE 


Robbins Butt » 


Butte 


- ——“7 


1 a i t Hugest Well 6 

- ' ' 

We^bwmw€ 


'^WEBB MINE 


‘OR/A PAM SITE 


TI" X. 


Doujble 

Butte 


7 ’, 


Squawtit PU 




112 * 30 ' 


113 * 00 ' 


-• m 









EXPLANATION 


Intermittent stream 


Wash 

(Water course that 
is usually dry) 


O 

Nonflowing well 


Abandoned well 
or dry hole 


* 

Spring 


A 

Natural reservoir 
or tank 


o 


Cistern or other 
artificial reservoir 


© 

Pumping plant 



Irrigation canal, 
ditch, or pipe line 



Road 



Secondary road 


Signpost erected by 
U. S. Geological Survey 


x 

Mine 



Bench mark 


Compiled from plane-table sheets by 
Clyde P. Ross, U. S. Geological Survey 
topographic maps, irrigation survey maps, 
township plats of the General Land 
Office, and other sources 
Relief shading by John H. Renshawe 


RELIEF HAP OF THE EASTERN PART OF THE LOWER GILA REGION, ARIZONA 

SHOWING DESERT WATERING PLACES 


Scale 250,000 


is Miles 


Watering-place survey by Clyde P. Ross 
Area south of Gila River by Kirk Bryan 
Surveyed in 1917 


JDtxtum. is menu sect- level 
1922 



















































































































































































• - 




























































































library of congress 















